The Cause of Our Scars - A NaLu fanfic
by True Love JALS
Summary: Natsu has always been the popular guy in Fairy Tail Academy who everyone admires and all the girls love. But when a new girl arrives, his life takes a turn. For better or for worse? Rated T for language and a little explicit content.
1. Hello

It was an average Friday morning when Natsu ran along the corridor of Fairy Tail Academy. He was late for Algebra class.

 _Shit, if I'm late for class, Mr. Wakaba will kill me once and for all._ Natsu thought to himself. As he ran past the principal's office, he saw Dr. Makarov with a new girl with blonde hair with a small ponytail on the side with the rest loose. Her Fairy Tail Academy blazer was pulled over her tiny skirt and she held the strap of her school bag tightly and nervously while her father with his hand on her shoulder talked to Dr. Makarov.

"Her Algebra class should be that way." Dr. Makarov closed his eyes just as Natsu tried to escape. "Mr. Dragneel should take her there."

"WHAT?! HOW DID YOU KNOW I WAS LATE?!" He screamed.

"I see everything, Mr. Dragneel. I see everything. Now would you be so kind as to guide Ms. Heartfilia to Algebra class." Lucy walked shyly over to Natsu with her head bent.

"Sure. Heartfilia girl, Algebra class is this way." Natsu motioned the girl to follow him. While still looking down, she followed.

"Hey what's your name?" Natsu asked. She stayed quiet for a moment.

"Lucy." She whispered.

"No what's your full name?" Natsu asked. She stayed quiet for another moment.

"Lucy Kayla Heartfilia." She whispered.

"Hi then, Lucy Kayla. I'm Natsu." He gave her his hand to shake. While still looking down, she slowly reached out and shook his hand lightly.

"By the way. When you get to Algebra class, you're gonna be in for a real snooze fest."

"Ok." Lucy said with no expression. Natsu opened the door to class. Everyone lifted their heads immediately after their little nap. Mr. Wakaba turned around.

"Late again, Mr. Dragneel?" Mr. Wakaba said accusingly.

"Well uh I had to uh accompany Lucy Heartfilia to class." Natsu gave Mr. Wakaba a fake grin. Mr. Wakaba sighed.

"Very well. Ms. Heartfilia, you sit next to Ms. McGarden over there in the second row." Mr. Wakaba pointed to a girl with short blue hair tied back with a yellow hair tie. She friendlily waved at Lucy as Lucy sat next to her.

"Mr. Dragneel please take your seat." Natsu sat next to Gray, an ice cold guy with dark blue hair and a soft deep voice.

"Have you hit on her yet?" Gray whispered.

"Shut up, she won't even open to me." Natsu elbowed Gray. As Mr. Wakaba began talking, most of the class started to fall asleep except for the first two rows including Lucy, who's eyes were covered by her side bangs.

"Mr. Dragneel." Mr. Wakaba called after an hour a snoozing.

"Mr. Wakaba?" Natsu said sleepily.

"I see your Algebra grades are rather low."

"And?"

"Is it ok if I assign Ms. Heartfilia as your tutor? From her grades in her previous school, she is very fit to be a tutor." Natsu paused.

"Sure, Mr. Wakaba." Natsu grinned sarcastically.

* * *

The bell rang to end the long hard day of Fairy Tail Academy. Natsu noticed Lucy and Levy talking like best friends. He tapped his cousin Gajeel on the shoulder.

"Hey Gaj. What's with Lucy and Levy?"

"They've been friends since kindergarten. Didn't Levy ever tell you that?"

"No, her name never came up." Natsu replied, flinging his bag on one shoulder. "Hey, see you later pal?"

"See ya." Gajeel gave Natsu a high five and left. Levy said goodbye to Lucy and caught up with Gajeel who put his arm around her. Lucy was at her locker alone so Natsu approached her.

"Hey, Lucy Kayla. How are you doing." Natsu leaned against the locker next to Lucy's and pushed back his pink hair. Lucy gave a soft chuckle at what Natsu called her.

"Ok." She said softly. They paused for a moment.

"You know who you remind me of?"

"Who."

"Mei Misaki from Another." Natsu grinned. "She's so quiet and so soft. Kouchi seems to really like her."

"Are you implying that you like me." Lucy smiled slyly at Natsu.

"N-n-n-n-n-no I-I-I-I mean are you likable sure b-b-b-but I don't _like_ you I just like you as a friend. And you are cute. N-n-n-no I don't think you're cute b-b-b-but I don't think you're ugly -" Natsu struggled. Lucy giggled.

"Alright, you can stop." Lucy smiled. Natsu sighed, then started acting cool again.

"We should watch a movie at my place."

"What?"

"What?" Lucy gaped.

"I don't exactly know who you are, Natsu. You could be psycho killer."

"True. But being in high school and not warming up to your tits shows that I'm not some freak show." Natsu grinned. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Sure. Just let me make a phone call." Lucy pulled out her phone. Natsu chose not to listen, but he couldn't help but hear the words 'appointment' and 'nurse'. Lucy put her phone away.

"Sure let's go." Lucy grabbed her bag and walked off with Natsu. They got into his small Smart. Halfway there, Lucy held on for dear life as he made a horrible turn.

"Oh oops." Natsu chuckled as he almost hit a car. "I've failed the driving test a billion times."

"Oh, you don't say because I am totally relaxed." Lucy huffed, her voice still soft and quiet.

"Hey don't you have a license? What a shame that such a pretty girl can fail the driving test so many times."

"My nurse won't let me drive." Lucy replied solemnly. Natsu paused.

"Your…nurse?"

"Well, she's the one who takes care of me when my dad's not around." Lucy explained.

"Oh ok." Natsu relaxed and continued driving. They pulled up to his driveway but knocked over a few flowers.

"Aw man, mom's gonna kill me now." Natsu groaned. Lucy looked outside and laughed. Natsu opened the door.

"Welcome to my home." Natsu opened the door and Lucy stepped in. It was an average two storied house with lots of photos of family vacations. A blue haired girl with pigtails and a middle school uniform came running to him.

"Hi Natsu!" She grinned widely.

"Hey Wendy." Natsu ruffled her hair. Wendy let go.

"Can you help me? Happy and Carla had their babies."

"What the f- you didn't tell mom and dad?!"

"Was I supposed to?" Wendy squirmed nervously and ran off.

"Who's Happy and Carla?" Lucy asked quietly.

"Our cats. Happy's mine and Carla's Wendy's." Natsu replied and walked off to the kitchen with Lucy following.

"Hi you guys." Natsu greeted a red haired man with a short beard and a woman with platinum blonde hair she obviously dyed. He was sitting at the table reading his newspaper while his wife was

"Hi Natsu. New girlfriend?" The woman asked.

"What? NO! NO! Just friends!" Natsu said.

"Alright." She said with a look of surprise.

"This is Lucy Kayla." Natsu said.

"Actually it's just Lucy." Lucy explained.

"Hello then, Just Lucy. How are you doing today?" The man asked.

"Good, thanks Mr. Dragneel."

"Please, call us Igneel and Grandeeney." He said.

"Yeah, we're just gonna go to my room." Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her to his room. They heard Wendy's voice screaming about the cats' babies and Natsu's parents running to see. Natsu opened the door to his room. It was filled with posters, trophies and a PlayStation.

"Wow, that's an impressive collection." Lucy pointed to his trophies.

"Yeah, I play football." Natsu sat on an armchair. Lucy breathed heavily.

"Can I sit down for a bit?" Lucy huffed.

"Sure. Make yourself at home." Natsu said. Lucy sat in the armchair next to him and bent her head.

"Sorry it's just…I've always been…pretty weak…"Lucy breathed heavily.

"Seriously, are you ok?" Natsu said with a look of concern.

"No really, I'm fine." Lucy reassured him.

"Ok then…" Natsu looked at his stack of DVD's.

"What kind of stuff do you like to watch?" Natsu asked.

"Well, my favourite genres are romance, comedy, horror and fantasy." Lucy replied.

"So you like Lord Of The Rings?" Natsu asked.

"Not exactly…I think I like Now You See Me." Lucy said.

"Do you have it?" Lucy asked.

"No, but I have the second movie." Natsu replied.

"I've never seen it before…ok" Lucy said. Natsu put the DVD in the DVD player and they watched the movie.

"So…what'd you think?" Natsu asked when the movie finished and the credits were scrolling.

"Oh yeah, it was awesome." Lucy replied with a grin.

"I know right." Natsu grinned widely. A moment of silence has befallen the two.

"Well, uh, listen, I really should be going. My nurse is gonna freak out if I don't get home by six." Lucy checked her watch.

"Six? That's way too early. Welcome to junior year, Lucy Kayla." Natsu said. Lucy looked at him.

"Really?"

"What? You don't think that's a cute nickname for a cute girl like you?" Natsu said confidently, better than when he talked to her at her locker.

"I see what you're trying to do here." Lucy said slyly but quietly still.

"You're trying to play confident plus hard to get. You're playing with my emotions so I'd fall for you. And from what your mom said, I can tell you've had many girlfriends, played with their hearts and got it lost in a game."

"Ok, now you're quoting from Britney's Spears's song Oops I Did It Again." Natsu pointed at her.

"I may or may not. But still, what happened there? Are you one of those guys who would just sleep with a girl and not call her. Hi Natsu Tribbiani." Lucy joked. Natsu rolled his eyes.

"No…maybe…yes…only once I actually dated someone." Natsu let it all out.

"Is it that white haired girl who follows you around and asks if NaLi can start all over again?" Lucy asked with a sly grin.

"Yep. That's Lisanna. My ex who still likes me a lot even though we ended horribly."

"Is she the little sister of Mira-Jane the most popular girl in senior year?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. She's also the little sister of Elfman, the most popular jock in senior year." Natsu leaned back and looked at the ceiling.

"I really wish I could be like Elfman." Natsu stated.

"You are. You're the most popular guy in junior year. All the girls like you and everywhere you go you're the center of attention." Lucy said. "Me, I walk around like a lonely zombie with the one pal who apparently is also popular. I'm basically a shadow." Natsu put his hand on her shoulder.

"You're not a shadow, you're just new. You can't exactly be popular the minute you get to a new school." Natsu said.

"Oh trust me, Natsu. I tell myself that at every school I've ever been to. But no, I'm still the one attacked from all sides. Fairy Tail Academy is gonna be no different. " Lucy sighed.

"Fine, I'll be your friend. I'll show them, Natsu comes with gal pal Lucy Kayla!" Natsu put his arm around her playfully.

"Sure, I'll just be gal pal Lucy Kayla." Lucy giggled. Then she checked her watch.

"I guess you gotta go. Wanna ride?"

"Oh no, I'm not going in that car ride from hell." Lucy said softly but sternly.

"Fine, we'll walk." Natsu grinned. Lucy sighed but agreed. As they walked downstairs, an older boy with black hair appeared. Lucy did not recognize him, he was not from Fairy Tail Academy. Wendy ran to him.

"Zeref-nii. I missed you!" She hugged him tight. The boy hugged her back, then looked at Natsu.

"Hey Natsu, new girl-"

"NOPE!" Natsu threw a ball at him. Zeref caught it.

"Ok, jeez. No need to be so rough. Besides, I'm only here to see Happy and Carla and Wendy." Zeref rolled his eyes.

"Happy and Carla had their babies." Wendy said excitedly.

"Oh my god, let me see." Wendy ran off to the basement with Zeref following. Natsu took Lucy's hand and went out the door.

"Who was that?" Lucy asked.

"My brother Zeref. He moved out and went to college." Natsu replied. It was a cool summer dusk with a pink and marmalade sky of the sun setting.

"So Lucy. What kind of stuff do you like to do?" Natsu asked.

"I like to read, write and hang out with Plue." Lucy replied.

"And Plue is…?"

"My dog. He's a small white poodle. Though my dad hates him a lot." Lucy replied solemnly.

"Tough." Natsu said.

"Yeah…" Lucy said silently. They walked slowly through the park. The wind rustled the leaves in the trees.

"Where do you live?" Natsu asked.

"22 Diamond Street." Lucy replied.

"Diamond Street? That's like one of the coolest places in Magnolia!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Yeah, we'll see." Lucy rolled her eyes. They chatted as if they were friends who haven't seen each other in a long time. Natsu and Lucy felt comfortable and at ease when talking to each other. Lucy stopped talking so softly.

"My friends and I are gonna go to karaoke tomorrow. You wanna come?" Natsu asked when they reached Lucy's place.

"I wanna, but I'm gonna have to ask my nurse." Lucy replied.

"Sure." Natsu handed her a piece of paper. "Just in case you want or need me."

"Thanks. I'll probably see you tomorrow." Lucy smiled, opened the door and went into her house. She sighed happily and immediately raced to her room, only to be blocked by a tall beefy man with blonde hair and a Hitler mustache, her father.

"Oh, f-f-f-f-father. Y-y-you're home." Lucy stuttered.

"Well, aren't you welcome me? I've been gone for months and you just run up to your room to see that stupid dog." He yelled.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-no. Welcome home, father." Lucy plastered a fake smile on her face.

"I'VE BEEN GONE FOR MONTHS AND I HAVE TO GO AGAIN IN A FEW HOURS! WHAT KIND OF DAUGHTER ARE YOU TO NOT WELCOME ME HOME!" Her father roared and gave her one brutal punch in the eyes. He continued to beat her until Lucy's nurse appeared.

"No, Mr. Heartfilia. You must stop this instant!" She pulled him back. Mr. Heartfilia spat on Lucy and stormed off to the living room. Lucy's nurse rushed to her side.

"Are you alright, dear?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. Thanks Olga." Lucy groaned. She put her hand to her ribs where he hit her.

"Let's get you to your room dear. Little Plue is waiting for you." Olga put Lucy's arm over her shoulder and helped her up to her room. When Olga opened the door, Plue came running to Lucy.

"Hey Plue." Lucy smiled. Olga laid her on her bed.

"Now you get some rest dear. I have to make sure your father doesn't get too drunk before another business trip. I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail." Olga closed the door to her room. Lucy stared up at the ceiling and sighed. She closed her eyes.


	2. Ok?

Lucy stayed in her bed the next day. She didn't feel like moving at all. Her right eye was bruised, her head hurt, her nose bled, her lip was swollen, her ribs were badly hurt and she had cuts bruises all over her. Plue slept on her bed as she watched The Fault In Our Stars in bed. Later, she got a call from an unknown ID. She picked up.

"Hey, how's my favourite blondie?" Said a familiar voice.

"Natsu…"She whispered.

"I was just wondering if you are gonna come. I got your number from Levy, she's with me right now. So are you?" Lucy didn't say a word. Finally she spoke.

"I'm not coming, sorry." She whispered. Natsu didn't speak.

"Are you ok?" He asked with concern.

"I don't know…just…I don't feel like it." She sighed.

"Just wait minute." He hung up. Lucy looked at her phone and sighed again. She curled up in her bed and cried. She couldn't take it anymore. Her father always beat her and her mother died when she was born. After ten minutes of silent tears, the door of her room burst open.

"Olga, I'm not in the mood." She whimpered and covered her face with her blanket. A warm rough hand that didn't belong to Olga touched her hair.

"Lucy Kayla?" Said a familiar voice.

"Natsu?" She lifted her eyes from her blanket. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking to see if you're alright. And clearly you're not." Natsu looked at her bruises and blood-stained nose.

"I am, really." Lucy covered her face with her blanket. Natsu put something cold in her hand.

"Here. Levy tells me you love the strawberry milkshakes from Starbucks." Natsu said kindly.

"Wow, thanks." Lucy said quietly and say up and sipped the milkshake.

"So Lucy Kayla, what happened?" Natsu asked.

"I can't say…" Lucy whispered.

"Lucy Kayla…" Natsu said in a way that made Lucy feel uncomfortable about lying.

"My dad…" She whispered. "He abused me ever since my mother died. He's basically a rich and drunk business man. I tried talking to the police about it but when they went to my house to ask my dad about it, he acted all loving and caring so the police said I cried wolf." Lucy sighed.

"Sucks…"

"Yeah…" Lucy looked away. They stayed silent for one moment. Natsu touched her forehead. Lucy felt her heart beat faster. His hands were so soft, so warm, and touched her in a way that made her feel comfortable.

"Do you feel pain anywhere else?" Natsu asked. Lucy blinked and snapped back to reality.

"Not really…" Lucy whispered. Then her ribs started hurting. She put her hand on the center of the bruise and winced in pain. Natsu looked at her and ran downstairs. A few minutes later, he came back with a giant pack of ice.

"Here, lie down." Natsu said. Lucy blushed, but lay down anyways. Natsu lifted her shirt halfway. His eyes widened at the sight of a giant purple and black bruise on her ribs. He put the bag of ice on her ribs and quickly put her shirt back down.

"So you have a TV here?" Natsu looked at the TV in her room. "That is so cool. And it's curved!"

"Yeah we have an even bigger one downstairs, but my dad uses it." Lucy grinned sarcastically. "You didn't notice it?"

"Well I was too busy getting you ice to mind the super cool TV." Natsu replied with a smile. Lucy looked down and smiled. Natsu turned on the TV. Plue jumped onto the bed.

"Is this Plue?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah." Lucy replied.

"Hi Plue. You're a cute little doggie aren't ya? Yes you are, yes you are." Natsu rubbed Plue's belly. Lucy tried not to laugh at his childishness.

"Hey, turn to Nickelodeon I wanna see if TMNT is on." Lucy said, trying to change the subject.

"TMNT? As in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?" Natsu asked had a look on his face.

"Yeah…"Lucy blushed with embarrassment.

"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I watch Winx Club when times go to shit." Natsu changed the channel to Nickelodeon, TMNT was on.

"You watch Winx Club?" Lucy giggled. "I used to watch that."

"I gotta remember that."

"Remember what?"

"Hearing your beautiful laugh, just gotta mention the fact I watch Winx Club."

"You idiot." Lucy giggled.

"See? You're laughing." Natsu pointed at her.

"I'm not!" Lucy couldn't stop laughing.

"Winx Club! Winx Club! Winx Club! Winx Club! Winx Club! I love Winx Club!" Natsu screamed. Lucy couldn't contain her laughter.

"Can we just watch TMNT? I wanna see if Leo kisses Karai!" Lucy kept on giggling for a while.

"Winx Club." Natsu whispered.

On Sunday, Lucy started to feel better. Natsu came over to check on her again.

"So how do you feel now?" He asked.

"Better than yesterday." Lucy replied with a smile.

"You wanna go to the park?"

"Sure." Lucy put on her coat, put Plue on his leash and walked out the door with Natsu.

"It's really a beautiful day." Natsu looked around.

"Yeah…" Lucy let Plue off his leash and he ran off.

"You ever worry he gets lost?" Natsu said with concern.

"Nah, he never does and never will." Lucy put Tic Tacs mints in her mouth. "By the way, you wear that white scarf all the time. Does it mean something to you?"

"Yeah ish. My dad gave it to me." Natsu replied.

"Oh ok." Lucy started chewing.

"So…have you always been in Magnolia?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah. I've never really been anywhere else." Lucy replied. "You?"

"Same, except for a few dumb trips to the East Forest and Hargeon." Natsu replied.

"What's it like in the East Forest? I've heard of it before and seen pictures of it but I've never actually been there."

"Eh, it's any normal forest. I just hope for this year's school trip we got to go to someplace awesome like Mt. Hakobe."

"I don't like cold snowy places. But sometimes it's nice to just sit on a park bench and look at the snow fall into your hands." Lucy looked at her small pale hands.

"Have you ever been skiing?" Natsu asked.

"No…Levy told me skiing was fun." Lucy replied.

"We should take you indoor skiing sometime." Natsu grinned.

"Oh please no. I have horrible balance and I could easily fall and kill myself." Lucy said.

"Lol, it's ok." Natsu nudged Lucy. Lucy giggled. She looked around the park, found a swing set and sat on a swing.

"I used to play on this swing so many times as a kid." Lucy slowly swung back and forth. "My dad never pushed me so I'd just sit here and watch people feed birds."

"Want me to push you?" Natsu offered jokingly as he went behind Lucy.

"No, don't, don't you dare." Lucy warned him. But Natsu didn't listen. He pushed Lucy on the swing. "Stop! Oh my gosh, Natsu!" Lucy laughed as he pushed her higher and higher.

* * *

Lucy didn't want to go to school on Monday. She didn't have enough concealer to cover the bruises on her arms and legs. She only had enough to cover the bruise on her right eye.

"No, Lucy. You have no serious pain anywhere so you must go to school." Olga said sternly when Lucy asked.

"Aw please? What about that bruise on my ribs?" Olga looked at it.

"It's not as serious. You'll be fine, sweetie."

"But I have P.E. today, Olga." Lucy complained.

"We've explained your situation to your teachers so you have no problem." Olga said sternly. "Now you go to school." Lucy groaned. She went upstairs and looked at herself in the mirror. She put her sweater on, followed by her blazer.

"I just hope this will do." Lucy put Plue on his leash and went off to school.

"Hey, it's Lucy Kayla! My favourite blondie!" Natsu said when Lucy arrived at school. He was waiting at her locker.

"You know, it's kinda weird when you call me that." Lucy said quietly.

"Lucy!" yelled a familiar frizzy blue haired girl with a yellow headband.

"Hey Levy." Lucy said quietly.

"How are you? Sorry I wasn't there with Natsu when you got hit."

"It's no problem." Lucy smiled.

"Hey shrimp, where you runnin' of ta?" Gajeel's pierced face and black frizzy hair loomed behind Natsu and Levy.

"Gajeel, how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that." Levy shot back. The two bickered about name calling behind Natsu.

"That guy's Gajeel, Levy's boyfriend and my cousin." Natsu said.

"I never knew he was your cousin." Lucy said.

"Well…yeah." Natsu shrugged. "Anyway what class do you have now?"

"History with Mr. Clive." Lucy replied.

"Want me to walk you there?" Natsu asked kindly.

"No thanks." Lucy looked down.

"Ok. Well, see you at lunch." Natsu turned around and waved. "Bye, Lucy Kayla."

"Bye." Lucy whispered and went off to History. She wheezed and coughed. _How much longer would I have to keep lying?_ She thought to herself. Her mind wandered off until she ran into a small white haired girl. Lucy recognized her, it was Lisanna.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry about that." Lucy frantically picked up Lisanna's books and gave them to her.

"Are you the blond girl who hangs around Natsu a lot?" Lisanna asked.

"I only hung out with him that Friday…" She lied.

"He is dreamy isn't he? Have you seen him sleep yet? It's so cute." Lisanna babbled on.

"What? No, no. I don't really see him that way." Lucy blushed profusely. She tried to hide it.

"Well whatever. I'm gonna have him back." And with that, Lisanna skipped off.


	3. Fun Friends

Natsu sat with Gray in Biology class. Instead of falling asleep, which Natsu usually does, he stared at the whiteboard in a daze.

"Dude, Natsu are you ok?" Gray elbowed Natsu. He blinked and snapped back to reality.

"What? Me? I'm fine." Natsu replied then went back to daydreaming. Gray looked at him, this was not like him.

"Then care to explain why you randomly left us at karaoke on Saturday?" Gray glared at Natsu.

"I dunno…" Natsu wasn't listening to what Gray had to say.

"Natsu! Snap out of it!" Gray clicked his fingers in front of Natsu's face. He blinked and looked at Gray.

"Natsu what the hell happened?!" Gray whisper-shouted.

"Nothing! Honestly!" Natsu shot back.

"You went to see that Lucy girl didn't you?" Gray asked with certainty.

"No…maybe…sorta…yeah I did." Natsu said reluctantly.

"Do you like her?" Gray asked.

"Kinda…" Natsu went back into a daze.

"Dude, have you completely lost your mind?! Haven't you noticed she's the kind of girl you can't hit on and make your girlfriend?"

"Why not?"

"Look, I don't know that much about her. But it seems to me that she either got hurt by a relationship gone bad or she just can't have one."

"What d'you mean?"

"Look, when she randomly went to watch a movie with you, what happened?"

"Well, she seemed reluctant about the idea at first, then she called her nurse and said something about an appointment, then she got tired of climbing stairs and said she was always kinda weak…"

"From what you talked about, it's like she's kinda sick. But then again, I might be over thinking and she probably need some therapy from some weird stair accident."

"Yeah…Ok…" Natsu went back into a daze, but he couldn't stop thinking about everything Gray said. When the bell rang for the next class, Gray linked arms with his girlfriend Juvia and went off to English class. Natsu sighed and went off to History.

Lucy held her lunch bag and looked around for an empty table to sit at. For most of her life, she's been sitting by herself except at her previous school. The only people she's ever sat with are Loke and Levy from her old school.

"Hey! Lucy Kayla! Over here!" Natsu shouted. Lucy looked up and saw Natsu waving her to come over to his table. Girls all over the cafeteria started to whisper as Lucy walked over to Natsu's table.

"Who is that new girl?"

"How does she know Natsu?"

"Does she know her place?"

"She's sitting with Natsu? The captain of the junior year soccer team?"

"What's with the swollen lip?"

"And all those bruises!"

"What'd she do, boxing class?

"I'm so jealous of her!"

"Why don't I get to sit with Natsu Dragneel?"

"Her name's Sue McKayla I think."

"It's Lucy Kayla."

"She's in my Physics class and her name's Lucy Heartfilia."

"OMG she doesn't even belong on the same ground as Natsu." Lucy hung her head as she sat down next to Natsu.

"I'd like you to meet my friends. This is Gray, the ice queen."

"Shut up, Natsu." Gray punched him on the arm.

"This is Erza, captain of the girls soccer team, girls basketball team and student council president." Natsu pointed to an older girl with scarlet red hair and diamond dangly earrings.

"Juvia, Gray's girlfriend and one of the cheerleaders." Natsu pointed to Juvia, a shy looking girl with long blue hair that curled at the end.

"Jellal, Erza's boyfriend and some guy." Natsu pointed to a guy with short dark blue hair with a red tattoo over and under his right eye.

"Wow, so nice, Natsu." Jellal rolled his eyes.

"Cana, the cheerleader with strong alcohol resistance." A brunette with purple eyes and a sober face rolled her eyes.

"You're nice." Cana said solemnly.

"And you know Gajeel, Levy and Loke." Natsu pointed to the three of them.

"Loke, I didn't know you went here. It's been so long." Lucy gushed.

"Yeah after a while you lose touch." Loke said. Lucy hugged him.

"It's been so long."

"I know."

"Juvia doesn't understand why Lucy-san has a swollen lip." Juvia said. "And bruises on her legs."

"Doesn't really matter." Lucy said quietly.

"By the way, have you guys heard that Mr. Justine and Mira-Jane are in a relationship?" Levy exclaimed.

"Eh, not that surprising. They keep making googly eyes at each other." Gray rolled his eyes.

"I know I'm not supposed to say this but I saw them making out at a café once." Lucy said quietly.

"Holy SHIT REALLY? LOL!" Natsu laughed

"Wasn't she with Laxus Dreyar?" Levy asked.

"The guy in his early twenties and still retained? Yeah they broke up last week." Loke replied.

"As president of the student council, I must say it is strictly forbidden for a student and a teacher to have intimacy." Erza said sternly.

"Oh my god, they are so screwed." Juvia put her hands over her mouth.

"Shouldn't have said anything, shrimpy." Gajeel whisper-shouted to Levy.

"Hey, it's good gossip." Levy socked Gajeel on the arm.

"Don't be so uptight, Scarlet." Jellal said.

"Well since Mira is our friend I wouldn't rat her out. But it's just not right." Erza sighed.

"Oh, guess who else is having a relationship with the teachers?" Levy said slyly.

"Don't tell Juvia…" Juvia slapped her forehead.

"Elfman is dating Ms. Evergreen." Levy said excitedly.

"Oh my gosh. Elfman as in the most popular jock in senior year Elfman?" Lucy asked with complete surprise.

"Yeah." Natsu replied. "Who else?"

"Isn't he dating someone else?" Lucy asked.

"Who?"

"I dunno. I just had the feeling he'd date anyone other than a teacher. Say…that Jenny Realight girl with the Barbie face?" Lucy pointed to the blonde hottie from junior year.

"He'd never date a bitch like her." Natsu said. "Think. Realight is a slut who wants flings. Besides, I think she's dating that Hibiki dude from Blue Pegasus College. By the way, what the fuck is she doing here? Isn't she from Blue Pegasus too?"

"That exchange student thing remember?" Levy reminded him.

"Oh ok…" Lucy took out her salad sandwich and nibbled it.

"No! Juvia told you that the rumor was true! Alzack gave Bisca a promise ring!" Juvia screamed at Gajeel.

"How's it possible? I mean they never do anythin' serious!" Gajeel tried to prove his point.

"So? That doesn't stop the power of love!"

"Yer startin' to sound like that Sherry creep from Lamia Scale School."

"Why won't you listen to JUVIA!" Juvia grabbed her water bottle and threw the water at Gajeel's face. A moment of silence befallen them.

"Did ye just…" Gajeel grabbed his water bottle and threw the water at Juvia's face. Juvia's face boiled with anger.

"Juvia, calm down." Gray patted her arm.

"Give Juvia that!" Juvia grabbed Erza's strawberry cake and threw it at Gajeel.

"Juvia is so screwed." Levy whispered as they watched Erza look at her empty hand in shock. She was quivering and sweating. In a split second she hit both Juvia and Gajeel hard.

"Scarlet!" Gajeel threw pudding at Erza, but missed and hit Loke.

"You're going down, Redfox!" Loke roared. Soon everyone on Natsu's table except Natsu, Levy and Lucy were in a brawl.

"Are your friends always like this?!" Lucy screamed amongst the hitting and screaming.

"Yeah! It's totally normal!" Natsu yelled back. "Cannonball!" He screamed and jumped in. Lucy laughed hysterically. Looks like she made some friends after all.

* * *

"D'you believe in angels?" Natsu asked.

"No." Lucy replied.

"Afterlife?"

"No."

"Soulmates?"

"Used to…" Lucy shrugged.

"Uh oh, what happened there?"

"A little something here and something there and yeah…" Lucy sighed.

"Lucy Kayla. Your soulmate is out there somewhere…" Natsu put his arm around Lucy and stared into space. "Just try to find that person and he'll realize he's the luckiest guy in the entire universe. Just believe."

"Thanks, Natsu." Lucy smiled and turned around in her chair.

"Alright, class has begun." Mr. Wakaba said. Natsu stared at the back of Lucy's head and sighed.

 _"If only you realized that the one you seek is right next door."_ He thought to himself. After another snooze fest, Natsu accompanied Lucy home.

"Uh! Such a lovely day!" Lucy gushed as they walked through the park.

"Yeah, I know." Natsu smiled.

"And look at these cherry blossoms!" Lucy walked over to a tree with beautiful pink cherry blossoms.

"Are they your favourite flowers?" Natsu asked.

"Actually they're my second favourite. My favourites are pink lilies, like your hair." Lucy walked back over to Natsu. "What are your favourites?"

"I dunno. Flowers are kinda girly."

"What flowers did you give your girlfriends?" Lucy asked.

"Well, I never really gave them any flowers. Just slept with them" Natsu replied.

"That's so sad." Lucy said quietly. "If I were a guy and I loved a girl, I would buy her flowers everyday. I'd be her shoulder to cry on and give her everything I have."

"Wow, you'd treat her so well." Natsu said.

"Of course. Who doesn't deserve to be treated that way?" Lucy said and looked up at the sky with a look of sadness. Natsu noticed that look.

"Hey. What's wrong?"

"Nothing…well, everything. I just see you with all those girlfriends and I just think, I don't have a good boyfriend, I never did, how come other people get to have all this good stuff?" Lucy sighed.

"Life isn't always about relationships." Lucy glared at Natsu. "Well, mine is."

"It's just something that happened a long time ago when I was a freshman." Lucy's hand tightened on the strap of her schoolbag.

"What happened? You don't have to tell me if you really don't want to…"

"Nah, it's ok. It's something I don't wanna talk about if public." Lucy said. "We'll go to my place, then talk about it." Lucy said. Natsu nodded. When they reached Lucy's house, Lucy unlocked the door solemnly. When she opened the door, they heard loud snoring coming from the living room.

"Oh my gosh my gramp's yacht didn't make this much noise when it hit rocks." Natsu joked.

"Oh geez, it's my dad. He's not supposed to be home right now. Oh god if he wakes up and finds you here, we are dead meat."

"But he's totally down right?"

"Yeah but still. Get a move on." Lucy grabbed his hand and lead him up the stairs. They got to her room and shut the door. Lucy sighed.

"About what you didn't want to tell me at the park…"

"Yeah." She sat on her bed and scratched Plue's belly. "It was in my old school, I was a freshman and completely clueless. There was this guy I liked so much. He found out and pretended he liked me back. We had this, according to me, very, very magical-like relationship, we kinda hooked up. But after that I found out all he wanted were the answers to the algebra test. So yeah, that's when I stopped believing in soulmates." Lucy lie down on her bed.

"I'm so sorry." Natsu said solemnly. He looked back at all of his previous relationships, all of them seemed similar to Lucy's story on the girls' side.

"Anyway, I heard that I'm your new Algebra tutor." Lucy said.

"Oh no, please kill me now." Natsu moaned.

"Natsu, it's not that hard." Lucy took her binder out of her bag.

"Easy for you to say, you're like, top of the class. I suck at Algebra, not like I care but my sister Wendy's already learning advanced algebra and my mom's all like 'You should do better, Natsu, you're the older one.'" Natsu rolled his eyes.

"Are you implying you don't even know simple algebra?" Lucy asked with concern.

"Well…I uh…"

"Oh my gosh." Lucy slapped her forehead and sighed. "Ok, I will teach you simple algebra." She took a piece of paper and slapped it down on the table. Natsu sat in her pink chair with a zebra print cushion. "Let's do this. 5+x=10 do you know this?"

"Yeah."

"Ok then how about this. 6*y=54?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. Let's try something a little more complicated…" Natsu watched Lucy explain to him about variables and algebra.

 _"Is she always like this? All about good grades? She should relax a little more."_ Natsu thought to himself.

"Ok, you think you got it?" Lucy asked.

"Hopefully." Natsu replied.

"Ok, then." Lucy took his Algebra binder from his bag and dropped it onto his lap. "You do all this. If you need help, tell me." She sat down on her bed, crossed her legs and started writing. Natsu sighed and did his homework doing his hardest with Lucy's knowledge.

"Hey, you thirsty?" Lucy asked after half an hour.

"This shit deserves a break. Yeah sure." Natsu grinned. "Oh by the way, I know this great place. Should be just down the street."

"Sure." Lucy got up and put Plue on his leash. They carefully crept down the stairs. Lucy's father was still snoring like crazy in the living room. Lucy slowly opened the door and they went off.

"Who out of Erza, Juvia, Gajeel and Jellal would you hit?" Natsu asked on the way.

"Natsu, I wouldn't hit any one of them, they're friends." They both paused.

"Gajeel, right?"

"Yeah, I don't know why." Lucy put her hand on her neck.

"LOL. Ok." They paused for a moment. Natsu looked at the small café in front of them.

"Hey, we're here." Natsu said.

"The Chocolate Lounge?" Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Trust me, they have the cutest snacks, you'll love it here." Natsu opened the door and lead her in.

"Hi, welcome to The Chocolate Lounge. May I take your order?" A young girl with bright pink hair and black earmuffs greeted them.

"Hey, aren't you Meredy? Jellal's little sister?" Natsu looked at her questioningly. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah I am Meredy. Jellal and Ultear couldn't make it so I stepped in. I think you forgot that Jellal told you our dad owned this café." Meredy at Natsu.

"Ok. I'll have a coffee. The cute girl will have a strawberry milkshake." Natsu pointed to Lucy.

"Oh, can I have one of those cute chocolate spoons? The dark chocolate ones. And a croissant for my dog please."

"Sure, that'll be 10 jewels please." Natsu gave Meredy a 10 jewel bill. The two sat down at a table.

"You like dark chocolate?" Natsu asked as Plue jumped onto Lucy's lap.

"Well I kinda have no choice." Lucy looked away.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'll tell you when the time is right." A waiter put Natsu's coffee in front of him and Lucy's milkshake and snacks in front of her. Lucy ripped up the croissant and gave it to Plue.

"When did you get Plue?" Natsu asked.

"He was a birthday present when I was 13. I got him from Olga." Lucy stated.

"The old lady with the short hair?"

"Yeah." Lucy said and took a bite from her chocolate spoon.

"Are you all about the good grades or you just wanna be the cutest nerd of all Fairy Tail history?" Natsu asked. Lucy glared at him. "Sensitive subject? Sorry, let's talk about something else."

"Ok, but just so you don't ask again, I'm in this school on a scholarship. I need those points and grades so the school would want to let me stay." Lucy said, obviously upset. "My dad won't pay for my tuition 'cause he's pretty much a selfish bastard who I wish I could murder and not get caught for it."

"I feel so bad for asking now." Natsu said with anguish.

"It's cool, people ask me about it all the time. And by people I mean the kids at my old school." Lucy nibbled on her chocolate spoon. Natsu slowly sipped his coffee.

"Wanna play Kiss Kill Marry Date?" Natsu asked.

"Sure." Lucy smiled.

"Ok…Jet, me, Cana or Loke?"

"What? You put Cana in there ?!" Lucy sighed. "Fine. I'd kiss Cana, kill Jet, marry you and date Loke."

"You'd marry me?" Natsu said slyly.

"I'm being nice here you know. You gave me no choice!" Lucy shot back. Natsu and Lucy laughed.

"Your turn." Lucy thought for a while. "Me, Erza Juvia and Levy."

"They're my friends! Why would you do this to me?!" Natsu sighed. "Hmm…I'd kiss Levy, kill…Juvia, oh god. Marry you and uh…date Erza.

"You'd marry me too?" Lucy flicked her eyebrows.

"I'm only returning the favour." Natsu flicked his eyebrows back at her. Lucy giggled hysterically.


	4. Sparks Fly

Natsu finished his algebra homework and Lucy checked it.

"Ok.." Lucy looked down. "No the points should be right there! Not here." Lucy showed Natsu.

"Aw, come on. What the hell is the difference?" Natsu exclaimed.

"Uh, there is a difference!" Lucy slapped her forehead. "God, it is so hard to teach you algebra." She continued to look at the questions. Natsu looked around her room.

"You're a fan of Taylor Swift?" He pointed to a poster.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing, it's just so many people hate her."

"Hey! Haters gonna hate."

"HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE!" Natsu sung, tone deaf.

"Baby I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake." Lucy sung quietly and in tune

"Shake it off, shake it off!" They sung in unison and high-fived.

"You're actually a really good singer. You should think about coming to karaoke with us sometime." Natsu said.

"I dunno about being a good singer…" Lucy said shyly.

"Believe in yourself, like the soulmates thing."

"What does soulmates have to do with singing?" Lucy rolled her eyes.

"What I'm trying to say is BELIEVE!" Natsu said with emphasis.

"Ok thanks. Now let me correct your homework." Lucy said and looked at his papers. "Hey Natsu, when you do algebra homework, what's your score?"

"Usually…one." Natsu said solemnly.

"You actually did it." Lucy said. "You got more than one question right."

"Oh my god…I DID?!"

"Yeah, you got like 20% of the questions correct."

"HOLY FUCK I ACTUALLY DID IT! NOT THAT I CARE AT ALL BUT IN YOUR FACE MOM AND WENDY!" Natsu jumped up and down while Lucy giggled. "Thanks a million, Lucy. I owe ya one." Natsu pulled Lucy into a tight hug.

"Ok…" Lucy hugged him back but Natsu started squeezing her so tight Lucy couldn't breathe and let go. "Oh god, stop it…I…can't…BREATHE!" Lucy wheezed. Natsu let go. Lucy took a deep breath and sat on her bed panting.

"Sorry, didn't mean to." Natsu said with guilt. He scratched the back of his head with anguish.

"It's ok but…I told you I've…always been a weak…person." Lucy panted heavily.

"Lucy Kayla, I am seriously sorry." Natsu said solemnly.

"No, no it's fine." Lucy took a deep breath and stood up. "Shall I walk you home?"

"Uh, it's usually the guys who walk the girls home." Natsu stated.

"Well since you've been walking me home so many times I thought I'd return the favour this time." Lucy said shyly. Natsu paused and felt a strange sensation in his stomach. Lucy did too. She could not believe she said all that.

"Sure." Natsu grinned and packed his stuff. Lucy stood up.

"Let's go." She tied Plue to his leash and they walked out.

"Do you ever wander what it's like to be a star?" Natsu put his hands at the back of his head and looked up at the sky. It was almost nightfall and the sun was just starting to set, creating a beautiful pink and marmalade sky.

"You mean like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé…"

"No not pop stars, real stars. As in the bright diamonds in the sky…" Natsu looked at her deep in the eyes.

" _So shine bright, tonight, you and I…"_ Lucy sang.

" _We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky…"_ Natsu sang, in tune for once.

" _Eye to eye, so alive…"_

" _We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky…"_ They sang in unison. Lucy giggled.

"I never knew you'd ever think of these kind of things." Lucy said quietly. "Usually for popular jocks like you, they'd ask if I've ever thought of being a football player."

"Well you know from time to time I just randomly think of strange things like this." Natsu looked back up at the sky. "So?"

"Sometimes I wonder what it's like to just fly in a never ending abyss of stars and never go back to earth." Lucy looked up at the sky along with Natsu. "I think of shitty thing in life and what it's like to just forget everything and…fly away." Natsu looked at her.

"You've a wild imagination." Natsu said. Lucy swept her hair behind her ear.

"You really should think about joining astronomy if you like stars that much." Lucy stated.

"I dunno. They're just general wondering-ments." Natsu said.

"Uh, wondering-ments is not a word." Lucy said.

"Uh, I just made it up." Natsu grinned. Lucy giggled. They slowly walked together through the park to Natsu's place. When they reached his front door, they stopped on his front porch.

"Hey when we get together again, care to recommend me some good songs you know? You're really great at singing." Natsu asked.

"Sure." Lucy said. They looked at each other for a while. Lucy felt a comfortable tingly feeling inside of her.

"See you tomorrow?"

"See you." Lucy waved.

"Bye to you too, Plue." Natsu laughed. Plue barked at him cheerfully as Lucy and Plue walked back to Lucy's place. On the way back, Lucy just couldn't keep her mind off of him. She put on her headphones and played _Sometimes_ by Ariana Grande.

* * *

"Hey you guys, I heard that the fall formal is coming up in a few weeks." Levy stated as she stuffed her Caesar salad in her face. "Cana you thinking of asking anyone?"

"Nope, I'll just be there with ma barrel." She said solemnly with her water bottle in her mouth.

"Loke?" Levy looked at Loke.

"Nah, I plan to just go to the fall formal alone." Loke said.

"Juvia is going to the fall formal with Gray-sama." Juvia said with a giant smile. Gray stroked her hair.

"And Gray is going with Juvia-sama." Gray said sarcastically but kissed Juvia's head.

"Hey Erza, you going with Jellal?" Levy asked.

"Only if he asks me." Erza replied with a smirk.

"Will you go to the fall formal with me?" Jellal said sarcastically.

"Sure." Erza grinned.

"So that leaves Natsu and Lucy. You guys going?" Levy looked at Lucy slyly.

"I don't really care…" Lucy said quietly.

"Me neither." Natsu said quietly as well.

"Can I talk to you for a sec, Luce?" Levy grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her to the side of the cafeteria. "What the hell are you doing?!" Levy whisper-shouted to Lucy.

"What do you mean what the hell am I doing?" Lucy shot back.

"Think about it. He likes you, you like him, what d'you say I make him ask you to the dance?" Levy suggested with a wide grin that went from ear to ear.

"Levy! I am not interested in him that way. We're friends and we're going to stay that way." Lucy stated as a matter-of-factly.

"Lucy, you know you like him a lot just admit it."

"I don't, I like him as a friend."

"Fine I'll just suggest that you guys go to the formal together, quote unquote, as friends." Levy said and dragged Lucy back to the table.

"Hey Natsu. Why don't you and Lucy go to the formal together, just as friends?" Levy said loudly and flung Lucy back to her seat next to Natsu as if to emphasize to him they should go.

"Sure, sounds great." Natsu grinned and put his arm around Lucy. She felt her face turn beet red. Lucy looked up to see Levy give her a thumbs up and a wink as if to say 'you're welcome'.

* * *

Lucy looked at her schedule, she had P.E. next. _Looks like another hour of library time._ She thought to herself. Behind her locker door was a familiar pinkette.

"Hey, Lucy Kayla." He smirked.

"You know, you have a really weird habit of hiding behind my locker door." Lucy said with a smile.

"What do you have now?" Natsu asked.

"I'm supposed to be having P.E. but since I can't do anything too active, I usually just go to the library." Lucy replied. Natsu wanted to ask why but then he remember all those times she told him so he stopped.

"I'm having drama but since I'm supposed to go to the library to do a research on William Wordsworth so wanna go together?"

"Sure." Lucy blushed hotly. They walked together to the library.

"Oh, man! I haven't been here since freshman year!" Natsu yelled.

"Ssh, this is a library." the librarian whispered.

"Yeah, Natsu." Lucy giggled and walked thought the library. "C'mon, ya little chump. Let's look for that researching of yours." Lucy searched through the biographies while Natsu goofed off in the comics section.

"Nice!" He screamed. Lucy climbed on a ladder.

"You are such a fool." She rolled her eyes and climbed higher on the ladder. She searched the row of books and found a book all about William Wordsworth.

"Hey Natsu I think I found something." Lucy was about to step down when the ladder wobbled and flung her off. She let out a loud scream as Natsu raced to her. All seemed to move in slow motion. Natsu caught Lucy in his arms just as she was about to fall to the ground. The ladder fell on top of them but Natsu flung it away.

"Lucy Kayla are you ok?" Natsu asked worriedly. Lucy was completely immobilized with fear. She was panting and her heart was beating rapidly. The librarian rushed to Natsu and Lucy.

"What happened here?" She asked.

"Just an accident. Lucy Kayla here is alright but she's just scared. You'd better fix that ladder of yours so it doesn't fall again." Natsu grinned. The librarian nodded and ran off. Lucy put her hand to her heart. Natsu put her down and she sat on the floor panting.

"Lucy Kayla seriously are you ok?" Natsu put his hand on her back. Lucy nodded.

"Yeah just…I take stuff like this really seriously…I'm just so weak…" Lucy panted. Sweat trickled from her head and dripped down from her hair. She stood up and held the book she found on the shelf. "Found this." She said with a weak smile.

"Well I'm just glad you're alright." Natsu ruffled her hair and took the book from her. "Ok…biography's here…ooh poems." He put his hand to his heart and put on his most dramatic face. " _All Thoughts, all Passions, all Delights, whatever stirs this mortal Frame, all are but Ministers of Love, and feed his sacred flame._ " Lucy laughed hysterically

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha LOL oh my god!" Lucy giggled but then put her hand to her heart and winced in pain.

"Lucy Kayla? What's wrong?" Natsu close the book and looked her worriedly.

"I'm gonna go to the nurse." Lucy fast-walked out the door. Natsu wanted to follow her but stopped.

 _"I guess she just needs to be alone right now."_ He thought to himself. He sat down and flipped through the book. Natsu started to worry about her. She didn't show up for Algebra.

"What's the matter, Natsu, girlfriend not there?" Gray asked.

"Yeah…" He said, thinking about the fall.

"You know why?"

"Sorta…" Natsu looked down at the table. "She fell off the ladder in the library."

"Was she hurt?"

"No but she was seriously shocked."

"I see…" The two didn't talk for the rest of class and just fell asleep while Mr. Wakaba rambled on and on about points. At the end of school, Natsu grabbed his bag and waited at Lucy's locker. He waited for ten minutes but still no sign of Lucy. He was just about to give up hope when he saw a sad blonde figure walking towards him.

"Lucy Kayla, for a minute there I was about to leave with just myself. How'd it go at the nurse?" Natsu said with concern. Lucy just stared down at the floor. She looked up and him and hugged him.

"I might have to go to the hospital…in a few weeks…right after the fall formal." Lucy wept. Natsu stared at her. Why did she have to go to the hospital? What was going on? How did this happen? Natsu put his arms around her. He didn't know what to say. All he could manage in a small voice was a stupid question.

"Will you still make it to the fall formal?" He asked. He expected Lucy to glare at him. He expected her to roll her eyes and give him an annoyed answer. Instead she just laughed.

"Of course. That is if I do have to go." She whispered and let go.

"Let's go." Natsu said quietly. Lucy grabbed her back and they walked out the doors. They took the same way through the park and sat down on the swings. The beautiful summer leaves were slowly turning red and orange as the days became colder. Lucy swung herself back and forth and took a deep breath.

"It'll probably be the last time I'll take a breath of natural fresh air." She whispered to herself. She didn't want Natsu to hear but he did.

"Hold on. What?"

"What?" Lucy didn't expect Natsu to listen.

"What'd you mean by that?" He asked. Lucy sighed. Was she ready to tell him the truth? Or did she have to wait a little while longer.

"All I can tell you is that if I do go, I'm going to the hospital to get something done." Lucy stated.

"I understand." Natsu said reluctantly. Inside he wanted to kick himself. He really wanted to know why Lucy was going to the hospital. Job? Treatment? Friends? His curiosity was killing him like a knife to the heart. Natsu looked at Lucy. Her head was up and her hair was flying, taking deep breathes of the fresh autumn air. Even though her eyes were shut, he could tell she was unhappy. He got off the swing and pushed her.

"Not this again!" Lucy giggled hysterically as she swung back and forth with Natsu pushing her.

"Have you ever jumped off a swing before?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, once. Never did it again." Lucy replied solemnly as Natsu continued to push her.

"Ok…" Natsu assumed she had a bad accident so he shut up. He stopped pushing.

"Why'd you stop?" Lucy turned around and looked at him.

"Because I'm tired of pushing you away from me. I want you to stay with me now." Natsu grinned.

"That's sweet." Lucy giggled. She took her bag and got off the swing. "Walk home with me now?"

"Sure." Natsu grabbed his bag and walked with her. As they strolled through the park, bright warm coloured leaves fell from the trees.

"Autumn is a really beautiful season. It reminds me of the Taylor Swift _Red_ tour." Lucy said quietly.

"When Taylor sang that super sad song _All Too Well_?" Natsu said.

"Yeah. Makes me feel comfortable and settled in some way." Lucy looked at Natsu with a soft smile. Natsu blushed and smiled slightly, then looked at the falling leaves. Natsu played _All Too Well_ on his phone and put an earphone in Lucy's ear.

"Yeah, I don't actually know what to do now…" Natsu said. Lucy giggled.

"I actually really like this song." Lucy smiled. Natsu smiled back and took her hand. Lucy blushed profusely, then calmed down and held his hand. They walked hand in hand to Lucy's place.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Lucy Kayla." Natsu said at the door.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." Lucy waved and closed the door behind her.

"Bye…sweetheart." Natsu whispered to himself.


	5. Love

"Hey Lucy!" Levy said cheerfully the next morning.

"Yeah Levy? What's up?" Lucy said monotony.

"With the formal coming up in a few weeks I thought you, me, Juvia and Erza could go shopping together." Levy grinned.

"What…? But I don't even have money and my dad won't give me an allowance."

"You can use my money."

"Oh Levy…thanks so much."

"No problem. So 9:30am at the mall, meet us at Cold Stone ok?"

"Ok then."

"Great, see you around." And with that, Levy waved and took off. Lucy grabbed her books and sighed.

"I know you're there Natsu. You can just say hi you know." Lucy said without looking at him.

"Hi Lucy Kayla." Natsu said reluctantly. "How are you today."

"I'm fine really. Though I won't be doing any climbing today hopefully." Lucy said.

"If you don't have P.E. today." Natsu grinned. "So anyway, you're going shopping?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. Want me to walk you to Algebra?"

"Sure." Lucy walked along side with Natsu. Lucy couldn't wait to go to the formal.

* * *

Lucy sat on a chair eating an ice cream. It was 9:25am and there were not many people in the mall.

"LU! LU!" a familiar voice shouted. Lucy turned around to see Levy, Juvia and Erza standing there.

"Juvia sees you got here early." Juvia said.

"It's a good habit for a lady." Erza said. "Now we must go shopping."

"Where should we start? There are so many stores with pretty dresses!" Levy said excitedly.

"Juvia saw some good dresses on the 2nd floor." Juvia stated.

"Yeah! Let's start there!" Levy grabbed Lucy's arm and dragged her there. They started at a store called Forever Sixteen.

"Wow, the dresses here are so pretty." Lucy gushed.

"I KNOW RIGHT!" Levy screamed and flicked through all the clothing racks. She found a short white and blue backless dress with unattached lacy sleeves that bared her shoulders.

"That one looks great on you, Levy. You should try it." Lucy said but she already dashed off to the changing rooms. She finished just as Erza and Juvia arrived.

"Juvia thinks you look fabulous!" Juvia gushed.

"I agree with Juvia. You could easily be the belle of the ball, to Gajeel." Erza stated. Juvia found a blue long sleeved dress with two splits and a small sapphire poncho.

"Juvia likes this dress." Juvia took out the dress to show the others.

"It matches your hair, Juvia." Erza said.

"Juvia will try this dress!" Juvia dashed off just as the sales clerk put Levy's dress in a shopping back.

"It's final, I bought this dress." Levy grinned. "Why don't you two look around?"

"Sure." Lucy and Erza looked around the store, but they didn't find anything good.

"Hey Erza. How about this one?" Lucy pulled out a green dress with no belt.

"That dress will make you look fat." Erza said.

"Yeah, you're right." Lucy sighed. "I'm never gonna find anything in here."

"Just keep looking, Lucy." Erza said firmly before looking through more clothing racks. After a while, Erza asked a strange question.

"Say, Lucy. Do you have a crush on Natsu?" Erza asked slyly.

"Eh-no. We're just going to the formal as friends." Lucy said immediately.

"Really, hmm…Lucy, it seems these days Natsu has taken interest in you."

"Really?!"

"To be honest, I'm not that sure but it seems as though you've both taken interest in each other." Erza grinned slyly.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy said nervously.

"Think about it. You sit next to each other all the time, you walk each other to classes and home and you're both really close. Maybe you should start things up."

"I'm not really looking for a relationship." Lucy said hesitantly.

"I'm just saying, Lucy." Erza replied.

"Have you guys found anything?" Levy asked.

"Nope, no luck." Lucy replied.

"We should go to another store." Erza took off with the three of them following. At the next store, Erza found a purple halter top dress that showed lots of cleavage, had roses on the sides and a big split in the middle.

"Hmm…I really like this dress." Erza looked at it.

"Try it on! Try it on!" Juvia screamed. Erza went to the changing room. Lucy looked around and sighed.

"I'm never gonna find anything." Lucy moaned.

"Actually, I found something that'll look really good on you." Levy held up a backless burgundy dress with straps tied around the back of the neck and two large splits on the sides.

"Wow, it's beautiful." Lucy gasped. "I never had some dress this beautiful."

"Try it! It'll look amazing on you!" Levy squealed. Erza came out of the changing room.

"How do I look, girls? Fabulous?" Erza smirked.

"Juvia thinks you look lovely." Juvia gushed.

"Alright, then this one's a definite." Erza went back into the changing room.

"Come on, Lucy. Just try it!" Levy shoved the dress in Lucy's arms and ushered her to a changing room. Erza came out and bought the dress.

"Ok so we're just waiting for Lucy. Hopefully she won't take too long." Erza stared down at the ground. Lucy opened the curtain nervously.

"Is anybody around?" She asked timidly.

"No." Levy replied. Lucy stepped out of the changing room.

"Oh wow, you look fantastic!" Levy gushed. "Natsu's gonna be begging for mercy when he looks at you."

"Oh shut up." Lucy blushed profusely.

"Juvia sees that Lucy is blushing." Juvia giggled. "Lucy-san likes Natsu."

"Noo!" Lucy squirms nervously.

"Squirming and blushing is basically a side effect of a crush." Erza stated. "I can't believe you just won't admit your crush."

"Yeah, why won't you just admit it?" Levy asked.

"Because…I'm afraid I might hurt him." Lucy sighed.

"There is no way you can possibly hurt the guy." Levy said. "Just buy the dress, we'll grab some lunch and go home. Ok?"

"Ok." Lucy fake smiled as Levy put her arm around her to the sales clerk. _You have no idea how badly I could hurt him._

* * *

The night of the fall formal arrived. Lucy looked at herself in the mirror and saw a totally different girl. She had more makeup on than usual, her hair was down and curled, and she wore high-heeled shoes that matched her revealing dress. Plue jumped at her.

"No, no, no Plue. You'll ruin my dress." Lucy patted her dog on the head. Just then, someone knocked on the door, it was Natsu. Lucy slowly opened the door.

"Wow…" Natsu was lost for words. She was just stunning. Like a beautiful diamond in the sky dressed in burgundy. Lucy looked down at the ground.

"I look seriously stupid, don't I?" Lucy said shyly.

"How…uh…why would you ever say that?" Natsu said. "You're too beautiful."

"Thanks…" Lucy tucked her hair behind her ear. Natsu wore a simple black vest, a white shirt with rolled up sleeves and a simple black pair of pants and shoes. He wore his scarf as usual. Natsu took her hand and they walked together to the dance. Autumn leaves fell down daintily onto the ground like ballerinas as Natsu and Lucy walked hand in hand to the fall formal at Fairy Tail Academy. As they walked in the cafeteria, Lucy was amazed with what she saw. It wasn't any normal cafeteria now. It was a party house. Everyone was dancing, talking, or eating and drinking.

"Hey Gajeel!" Natsu grinned. Gajeel wore a tuxedo with giant feathers, his style.

"Hey Natsu, see yer lookin' pretty good tonight, bruh."

"Thanks. See you around Gaj." Natsu grinned and they walked away. In just the nick of time, they started playing _Bang Bang_ by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj.

"I love this song! C'mon, Lucy Kayla. Dance with me!"

"Wait no, I can't dance!" Lucy screamed as Natsu dragged her to the dance floor.

"No way. Anyone can dance." Natsu said as he breakdanced to the lyrics.

 _She got a body like an hour glass_

 _but I can give it to you all the time_

 _She got a booty like a Cadillac_

 _But I can send you into overdrive (oh)_

 _(You've been waiting for that..._

 _Step on up swing your bat)_

 _See anybody could be bad to you,_

 _You need a good girl to blow your mind, yeah_

Lucy watched Natsu spin on his head and jump up with a grin. Lucy clapped for him. Natsu saw and dragged her in.

"C'mon Lucy Kayla. Dance! I know you can!" Natsu screamed. Lucy hesitated, but then started moving her legs and swinging her arms.

"That's it, you're doing it." Natsu grinned.

"I don't know about that." Lucy said shyly.

"C'mon, dance with me." Natsu grabbed her hand and pulled her in closer. He twirled her around and pulled her back in. At first Lucy tried to pull away but she started to have some fun and laughed.

"Ok, I'll dance." Lucy grabbed his arm and twirled him hard like a top.

"No! Please! AAAHHHH!" Natsu screamed. Lucy laughed and continued to spin him. Natsu put a hand on Lucy's shoulder.

"Ok, ok, sorry. I'll stop." Lucy giggled. Natsu lifted himself up and laughed.

"Lol, that was awesome." He grinned. "Never knew you were so strong."

"Well…I…" Natsu grabbed her hand and continued dancing with her. Loke looked at the two and grinned. He whispered something to the DJ. When the next song finished, _All Too Well_ was playing on the speakers. Natsu and Lucy looked around.

"Lucy Kayla…" Natsu whispered and stared into her eyes. Lucy put her hands on his neck and he put his arms around her waist. Loke rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, slow dance properly." Loke pushed Natsu towards Lucy so they hugged. Loke ran off as the two swayed to the music.

 _'Cause there we are again on that little town street._

 _You almost ran the red 'cause you were looking over at me._

 _Wind in my hair, I was there, I remember it all too well._

Lucy sighed and buried her face in Natsu's warm shoulder. Natsu felt himself blush.

"What's wrong, Lucy Kayla?" Natsu asked nervously

"Nothing. I just feel comfortable with you around me." Lucy said quietly. Her quiet voice suddenly reminded Natsu of the first time they met and how much her attitude toward him had changed. Natsu held her closer toward him and buried his face in her hair. The sweet scent of her golden hair filled his nose. Cana looked at them with a drink in her mouth.

"Out of all of them, I'd vote them the cutest couple." Cana said soberly. Natsu flapped his hand, beckoning her to leave. Cana rolled her eyes and walked away. Natsu rolled his eyes and held on to Lucy.

 _Wind in my hair, you were there, you remember it all_

 _Down the stairs, you were there, you remember it all_

 _It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well_

Lucy and Natsu let go of each other and stared deep into each others' eyes. They moved closer in together and slowly closed their eyes as they went closer to each other. Lucy felt her heart thumping in her chest like a boxer, their lips were 2 inches apart. They moved closer and closer…

"GUYS! GUESS WHO'S DOING AN ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE OUTSIDE IN THE COURTYARD TOMORROW!" Lisanna screamed, ruining the moment.

"Lisanna! You ruined it!" Loke whisper-shouted to her.

"Sorry. Mirajane and Mr. Justine are doing the ice bucket challenge outside. And they nominated Elfman, Ms. Evergreen, Laxus Dreyar and Dr. Makarov." Lisanna said apologetically. Loke grabbed Lisanna's arm and dragged her away. Lucy giggled.

"Lisanna's a really excited person, huh."

"Yeah tell me about it." Natsu sighed. Suddenly, _Diamonds_ by Rihanna started playing. Lucy looked at the speakers.

"It's like someone knows all our songs." Lucy giggled and turned around to face Natsu, only to meet his lips against hers. Her eyes were wide open with shock but she slowly closed her eyes and kissed him back. Natsu broke off the kiss.

"I'm sorry, I just had to do it." Natsu looked down at the ground. Lucy put her hands on his shoulders and pulled him towards her.

"I love you too." Lucy whispered.

"Wait, you love me?" Natsu's eyes were wide open as he pulled away from Lucy.

"Yeah, I do." Lucy stared him in the eye and smiled. Natsu was shocked.

"What is love exactly?" He asked. Lucy moved closer towards him.

"Words cannot describe. But if you stay, I can teach you." She said softly.

"But how do you know if you're in love?" he asked.

"You just know." Lucy looked into his eyes. Natsu smiled. They smiled and kissed again. Soon, the fall formal was over. They walked happily together through the park hand in hand. Lucy just couldn't stop blushing and smiling. They soon reached Lucy's front door.

"Well, I had fun tonight." Lucy smiled.

"Me too." Natsu smiled back.

"I'll see you around." Lucy planted a kiss on his cheek and went into her house. Natsu touched his cheek where he kissed her.

"Bye…" He smiled and left.


	6. Sick?

**I'd like to thank ligerscool for being my best reviewer. Thank you so so so much! Muah! I would also like to thank all of my followers and those who added my story to their favorites. I love you all! Muah!**

Lucy didn't show up the next week or the week after or the week after that. Natsu was worried about her. He couldn't concentrate on anything. Even when he was at soccer practice, he couldn't play at all.

"Get your head into the game, kid!" Mr. Clive screamed. Mr. Clive also taught history as well as coaching the soccer team.

"Sorry coach." Natsu said and fake smiled. But he still couldn't put his head into it. After practice in the changing room, Gray walked up to Natsu.

"What the hell was wrong with you?"

"What do you mean what the hell was wrong with me, dumbass. I'm completely fine!" Natsu shot back.

"You normally don't miss the goal. And I realized Lucy hasn't been here for over a week." Gray stated. "Seriously what happened?"

"She went to the hospital. At least that's what she said." Natsu replied.

"If you're really worried about her, send her some flowers. You guys hit it off at the formal right?"

"HOW DID YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED THERE?!" Natsu demanded.

"I wasn't stalking." Gray stated. "Anyway, just show her you love her and when she comes back from the hospital, ask her about it." Natsu paused.

"Yeah…Yeah I'll do it. Thanks man." Natsu patted Gray's back and grabbed his bag and left. He ran to the nearest flower store and bought a dozen pink lilies, her favourite. Then he ran all the way to her home and knocked on the door. An old lady appeared.

"Is there something you want, dear?" Olga asked.

"Uh yeah. I'm looking for Lucy." Natsu replied.

"Don't worry dear. She's going to be back any moment now. Oh look, there she is. Oh my poor sweet dear." Natsu turned around gaped. There was a pale sad Lucy with a cannula in her nose and an oxygen tank in her pink wheelie bag. Lucy wore a black scarf that seemed to emphasize her sadness. She looked up and saw Natsu and Olga staring at her.

"Natsu…" Lucy smiled slightly.

"Oh my dear Lucy. I would hug you right away but this young man wants to talk to you." Olga pointed to Natsu. "I'll give you two some privacy." Olga closed the door. Natsu held up the bouquet of flowers.

"I bought these for you." Natsu smiled sadly. "I hope you're alright."

"Natsu, they're beautiful." Lucy's smile faded. "But I can't seem to smell them anymore."

"I kinda wanted to ask you about it." Natsu said. Lucy put down the handle of her wheelie bag and sat down on the stair. She sighed, then coughed.

"I…have a type of lung cancer." Lucy said. Natsu gaped wider. He sat down on the stair next to her.

"How…why…when?" Natsu breathed.

"I had it since I was born. I wasn't always that serious until that fall in the library. They did a few tests on me and they said my lungs aren't in a stable condition. Now I have to wear this from now on to prevent my lungs from flowing with liquid." She pointed to her cannula. "I've done chemo and radiation when I was a few years old. Back then I had all these beanies and hats and wigs I loved to wear like all the time." Then she bowed her head and cried.

"Why is this happening to me? Why do I have to be the on to have lung cancer? Why can't I live normally like every one else?! Why do I have to be the one to die?!" She screamed bitterly. Natsu pulled her into his arms as she wept against his chest.

"No, Lucy Kayla. You're not going to die. I'll be there to help you fight it. You're going to live as long as the rest of us." Natsu said firmly. "I promise you that." Lucy lifted her face from Natsu's chest and wiped her tears.

"I love you, Natsu." She smiled.

"I love you too, Lucy Kayla." Natsu smiled back and planted a short kiss on her lips. "C'mon, love. Let's go grab a bite, shall we?" Lucy giggled.

"Sure." Lucy got up with Natsu by her side.

"You wanna put those down?" Natsu said.

"No, I wanna carry it around with me." Lucy grinned. Natsu laughed and put his arm around her.

"Wanna go to The Chocolate Lounge again?" Natsu asked.

"Sure." Lucy replied with a grin. _I fell in love with him the way Hazel did in The Fault In Our Stars; slowly, then all at once._

"Hi, welcome to The Chocolate Lounge. May I take your order?" Meredy fake smiled at Natsu.

"Same thing as last time." Natsu replied.

"Only this time I don't want the croissant and I want one of those cute pink little mini cupcakes." Lucy gushed.

"Sure, that'll be 5.90 jewels." Meredy said. Natsu gave her a 10 jewel bill.

"Keep the change, Mer." Natsu said and walked to a table with Lucy. As they sat, Lucy stared out at the window. When a waitress handed them their food, Lucy was still quiet.

"Hey, you ok there?" Natsu asked. Lucy sighed.

"I'm just kinda sad this is all happening." Lucy replied solemnly.

"Hey, anyone would be sad if something like this happened to them. It's completely normal." Natsu assured her.

"I know but still." She sipped on her milkshake. Natsu put his hand on hers and took it in his.

"I'll be there, ok? Remember that." Natsu stared deep into her eyes. Lucy felt tears of joy overflow her eyes. She wiped them away and nodded.

"Ok. I will." Lucy said firmly.

* * *

Natsu walked Lucy to the park and they sat on a park bench. By each passing day, the leaves fell more and more as the days became colder. Lucy looked up at the sky.

"It's a beautiful day today, wouldn't you agree?" Lucy looked at Natsu with a soft smile.

"Yeah. Soon it's gonna be all cloudy and super freezing." Natsu said. Lucy giggled. She leaned against Natsu's shoulder and buried her face in it. Natsu put her arm around her.

"I could stay like this forever." Lucy whispered. Natsu smiled.

"I could too but it's getting really cold now." Natsu shivered. Lucy giggled.

"Let's go to your place then. I haven't been there since we watched movie together."

"Let's go then." Natsu took her hand and walked her to his place. He opened the door to his house.

"Now that you mention it, it was pretty cold outside. But I feel warmer in here." Lucy smiled. A plump blue cat walked towards Natsu and mewed.

"Hey Happy. How's the missus and the kids eh?" Natsu bent down and patted Happy's head.

"That's your cat?"

"Yeah." Natsu let Happy go back to the basement. Wendy ran towards Natsu.

"Hey Natsu. Hi Lucy. Why do you have tubes in your nose?"

"Wendy! Don't be so rude." Natsu scolded.

"It's alright, Natsu." Lucy bent down. "This is called a cannula. It helps me breathe. See this pink wheelie bag? It actually stores oxygen for me to breathe."

"Oh ok." Wendy grinned and ran off.

"Oh look, there's a photo album. Can I see it?" Lucy asked excitedly.

"Sure, but it's kind of embarrassing." Natsu blushed as Lucy flipped through the album.

"So who's this naked little fella?" Lucy giggled.

"That would be me." Natsu said, embarrassed.

"Look at this little baby." Lucy laughed.

"Stop laughing at my thing." Natsu yelled.

"Ok, ok." Lucy flipped the page. "Wow, look at you. The proud face of victory."

"Yes. Natsu has been playing soccer is whole life. That picture there is him and the team in1st grade." Grandeeney interjected.

"Mooooom!" Natsu moaned.

"He was a lively boy who never listened to anyone. Nothing has changed." Grandeeney laughed.

"Ok enough outta you." Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her up the stairs into his room. He closed the door behind him.

"Sorry we were embarrassing you earlier." Lucy apologized.

"It's alright. Besides, you wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure. You have My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2?"

"Yeah. You wanna watch it?"

"Yeah." Natsu put the DVD in the DVD player and turned the TV on. Lucy put her head on Natsu's lap as they watched. From time to time, Lucy would glance up at Natsu and he would kiss her hand. Near the end of the movie, it played _All Of Me._ As the two protagonists danced their hearts out, Natsu and Lucy danced along with the music.

"And I mean it, Lucy. I would give you all of me." Natsu whispered in her ear. Lucy blushed and smiled.

"I would too." Lucy whispered back. Natsu twirled Lucy around, getting them both tangled in Lucy's tubes.

"Oh god, wait. I think you just…" Natsu tugged at the tube. Lucy laughed.

"Stop that! It's ticklish and you might break it!" Lucy giggled.

"But seriously how do you…?" Natsu tried to untangle the tube. Eventually they untangled the tube. Lucy stepped back and tripped over Natsu's foot and fell on his bed. Natsu laughed and jumped on top of her, minding his weight. Lucy giggled as he grabbed her arms with his hands. They stared into each others' eyes.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"We haven't exactly finished the movie yet."

"Oh wow, lol, sorry." Natsu got off of her and sat down next to her.

"So what do you wanna do now?" Natsu asked after they finished the movie.

"I dunno…" Lucy looked down in thought.

"Let's take a walk through the park." Natsu suggested. Lucy took his hand and he led her down the stairs. Wendy ran to Natsu with a tiny newborn kitty.

"HAPPY AND CARLA HAD ANOTHER BABY!" She squealed.

"Wendy! As much as I think that baby is adorable, you can't just take a baby out of her mom's uterus and shove it in my face!" Natsu roared.

"I hate to say this but the guy's right. She's all covered in blood and she's fleshy, you should tell your parents." Lucy stated. Wendy nodded and ran off. Lucy put her hand to her mouth.

"Ok, I'm totally gonna barf now." Lucy wheezed. Natsu patted her back.

"Let's just get out of here before our cats do anymore kitty-humping." Natsu put his arm around Lucy and led her out of the house.

"Oh wow look. The autumn leaves really are falling like pieces into place." Lucy gushed. She tugged at his arm.

"Natsu look! There's a cute little squirrel!" Lucy pointed to the small squirrel eating his acorn. It took one look at Lucy and ran up a tree. Natsu and Lucy walked back to the path.

"Lol, even the squirrel is scared of you." Natsu laughed.

"Natsu!" Lucy elbowed Natsu hard in the ribs.

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. You're beautiful!" Natsu said tried to get her to stop elbowing him. Lucy laughed. She still carried the lilies in her arms as she walked up to the front porch.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Lucy smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Natsu smiled and kissed her cheek. Lucy closed the door behind her. Natsu walked home with a smile on his face. He opened the door to his house, went straight to his room and collapsed on his bed. He let out a deep sigh of happiness. But then he felt something underneath him. He got up and saw Lucy left her scarf in his house. He brought the scarf to his face and inhaled its sweet Lucy scent.

* * *

Lucy didn't want to go to school. She was afraid people would see her cannula and treat her differently. Natsu was at her front door when she left her house.

"I know what you're feeling." Natsu said. "Fear, embarrassment, shame. But if anyone hurts my gal pal Lucy Kayla I'm gonna lecture their faces with my FISTS!" Natsu cracked his knuckles.

"Thanks Natsu, but I can fight my own battles." Lucy giggled. She linked arms with Natsu and walked to school. Lucy opened her locker with Natsu standing next to her. Levy ran over to them with Gajeel behind her.

"LU! LU! How are you? What's with the cute wheelie bag?" Levy asked.

"Cancer." Lucy replied.

"Oh no. Don't tell me it got worse…" Levy said worriedly.

"It got worse." Lucy turned around to look at Levy. "And now this is me."

"Oh my gosh." Levy put her hand on her mouth. She hugged Lucy.

"Levy knew?" Natsu said with shock.

"Yeah. Didn't I tell ye they were friends since kinder?" Gajeel replied.

"I'll be there if you need it but I don't think so since you have Natsu. I'll see you later, Lu." Levy waved. "Gajeel!"

"Coming, shrimp."

"Don't call me that, you big lug!" Levy screamed. Gajeel walked towards Levy.

"By the way. We're going to karaoke this weekend. You wanna come with us?" Natsu asked.

"Sure." Lucy grinned.


	7. Friends and Dating

"Shoo bee do baa!" Gajeel sang.

"Does he know any other songs." Lucy whispered to Natsu.

"Honestly, I really don't know." Natsu said as Levy clapped slowly.

"Nice Gaj. But can you sing something else next time?" Levy asked straight forwardly.

"Hey I like this song!" Gajeel shot back. It was an average Saturday night where Natsu, Lucy and the rest of the gang were at karaoke.

"It's my turn to sing now!" Natsu grabbed the microphone.

"Now I shall sing CAKE BY THE OCEAN!" Natsu screamed. He began singing in tune and very sophisticatedly

 _Oh no_

 _See you walking 'round like it's a funeral_

 _Not so serious, girl; why those feet cold?_

 _We just getting started; don't you tip toe, tip toe_

"Oh god the chorus is coming. Block your ears and brace yourself from the sound of hell." Levy said to Lucy and blocked her ears. Levy was right. Natsu went crazy.

 _TALK TO ME BABY_

 _I''M GOING BLIND FROM THIS SWEET, SWEET CRAVING_

 _LET'S LOSE OUR MINDS AND GO FUCKING CRAZY_

 _AH YA YA YA YA YA I KEEP ON HOPING WE'LL EAT CAKE BY THE OCEAN!_

Lucy giggled. Natsu seemed so carefree even though he was completely tone-deaf.

"Ta da!" Natsu smirked. Only Lucy clapped.

"That was so cute." Lucy gushed.

"Now your turn, Lucy Kayla." Natsu gave her the microphone.

"Oh me? No, no, no." Lucy flushed.

"C'mon Lu. You haven't sang this entire time. You should." Levy said.

"Juvia thinks it's a great idea to force Lucy to sing." Juvia stated

"Now, now Juvia. Don't force her if she doesn't…" Gray patted Juvia.

"I'll…do it." Lucy grabbed the microphone.

"So whatcha gonna pick?" Natsu put his arm around her.

" _Touch It_ by Ariana Grande." Lucy replied.

"Wow, that's actually a tough song." Loke said with a bit of shock.

"No joke." Cana said soberly.

"I'll be fine." Lucy said. As soon as she opened her mouth to sing, Natsu was amazed. Her voice was beautiful, like an angel with the heart of a devil.

 _'Cause every time I'm with you, I go into a zone_

 _And I remember all the places you wanna go_

 _Take me all the way_

 _Ain't nobody gonna touch it, touch it, touch it_

 _'Cause every time I see you, I don't wanna behave_

 _I'm tired of being patient so let's pick up the pace_

 _Take me all the way_

 _Ain't nobody gonna touch it, touch it, touch it_

Near the end was the whistle tones only Ariana could do. Lucy mastered it.

"Did you know she was this good at singing?" Natsu whispered to Levy.

"No, she always said she hated her singing." Levy replied. The song finished, and there was nothing but silence.

"Did…did I do ok?" Lucy said timidly. Everyone paused.

"That…THAT WAS AWESOME!" Natsu screamed. "Damn, why do you say you hate it?"

"I'm afraid…my whistle tones were annoying to people." Lucy looked down at the ground.

"What the hell! That was so good!" Natsu put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. "This calls for celebration, time!" Natsu grabbed the microphone. "Sing with me Gray, Gajeel, Loke!"

"Oh no. He's gonna sing it." Erza slapped her forehead.

 _Baby you light up my world like nobody else,_

 _The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,_

 _But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,_

 _You don't know,_

 _Oh, oh,_

 _You don't know you're beautiful,_

 _If only you saw what I can see,_

 _You'd understand why I want you so desperately,_

 _Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,_

 _You don't know,_

 _Oh, oh,_

 _You don't know you're beautiful,_

 _Oh, oh,_

 _That's what makes you beautiful!_

Natsu screamed out the lyrics as if it were his last dying words. Lucy giggled. In her entire life, nobody treated her as if she was his own. Natsu held Lucy's hand as he screamed out the words. She couldn't help herself from laughing while everyone rolled their eyes at his immaturity.

* * *

A cold Sunday always made Lucy feel lonely. She didn't want to go see Natsu, Levy or anyone. She just felt like taking a walk.

Far past Fairy Tail Academy was the Magnolia River. During the summer, people would go there, pretend it was a beach and swim in the vast river. But it was now autumn and nobody was there. Lucy felt it was the perfect time and place to be alone.

She took of her shoes and socks and sank her feet into the cold sand. Lucy dragged her oxygen tank behind her as she walked along the river. The sky was grey and the air was cold and all she wore was a flimsy white dress. It was starting to get windier with each step she took. Now was the time to organize her thoughts.

 _What happened to me? Why do I have to have this cannula? How did I get this cancer? Lol, Cancer the crab. Heh. Hmm it's feels nice to just walk around in the cold. Nice wind, cold sky, dunno why I like this kind of stuff and holy crap is that Natsu?_ Lucy looked to see Natsu sitting on a rock.

"Hey, whatcha doing here?" Natsu grinned and waved.

"My question exactly, Natsu." Lucy replied.

"Well, I took Wendy to her friend's house then came here to sulk my ass off." Natsu replied. "You?"

"Just hanging around. I just…wanna be alone." Lucy replied. Natsu paused.

"I see." Natsu got up. "You want me to leave?"

"No, please stay." Lucy said immediately. Natsu stopped and sat back down. Lucy walked over to him and sat on the sand beside the rock.

"Hey aren't you cold?" Natsu asked worriedly.

"No, I hardly get cold during days like these." Lucy replied. Her feet covered in cold sand. Natsu wrapped his scarf around her neck.

"It's just unsettling to see you without a coat on a cold day like this." Natsu said. Lucy blushed and put a cold hand on his.

"I love you too." Lucy smiled. Natsu blushed and smiled back. The two walked along the river hand in hand. Lucy looked at the river and smiled sinisterly. Lucy looked away and suddenly pushed Natsu into the river.

"Lucy!" Natsu played angry while Lucy giggled hysterically. He jumped out of the river and chased Lucy around.

"Catch me if you can!" Lucy teased and ran. Natsu caught up with her. He put his arms around her waist and whirled her around. Lucy laughed and flung her arms out. The cold wind rushed through her dress as she spun around in Natsu's arms. All of a sudden, Lucy felt a drop of water on her nose. Then another and another and another. It started to rain heavily on Magnolia.

"Aw man." Natsu moaned. "Wanna piggy-back ride in the rain?"

"Sure." Lucy giggled. "Just…" She pulled down the handle of her wheelie bag and pulled out a strap and pulled it over her shoulder. "Go, horsy! GO! GO! GO!"

"You're so immature." Natsu chuckled as he ran to a nearby shelter with Lucy on his back. Natsu let her down. He shook himself like a wet dog, spraying water everywhere.

"My god! You're getting me wetter than I already was!" Lucy screamed and laughed. They sat on a bench and watched the rain pour down like tears from a widow. Lucy started shivering. Only then she realized how cold she was.

"Hey, you ok Lucy Kayla?"

"Yeah…" Lucy whispered.

"If this rain doesn't stop for another 10 minutes, we'll just make a run for it an stay at my place.

"Yeah ok." Lucy said. She looked around. Natsu happened to be humming _Sparks Fly_ by Taylor Swift.

"You really think sparks are flying?" Lucy questioned.

"Every time I'm with you sparks are flying." Natsu replied with a grin. Lucy blushed profusely. She loves him so much.

* * *

"Hey Lucy Kayla?" Natsu said at lunch the next day.

"Yeah, Natsu?" Lucy replied turning around to look at him.

"Have you ever been on a real date before?" He asked.

"No, never." Lucy replied.

"Then how 'bout I take you out on one eh?" Natsu winked. Lucy smiled and blushed.

"I've never been on a real date but ok." Lucy giggled.

"Where do you wanna go?" Natsu asked.

"I don't know. I don't know any places special." Lucy sighed.

"I know. You don't exactly have to go to some place special. We could just hang out somewhere." Natsu said.

"Yeah but it's my first official date. I always pictured it to be perfect." Lucy said sadly. Natsu put his arm around her.

"I'll make it special. I promise you." Natsu said and stared into her eyes. Lucy pulled away.

"No, Natsu. I am not sleeping with you!" Lucy said angrily.

"I never said I wanted to." Natsu said.

"Really…" Lucy glared.

"Really, I didn't!" Natsu put his hands up in surrender. "You heard me!"

"Ok, ok." Lucy scratched her cheek. Natsu hugged her from behind.

"I LAA-VUU YOU, LUCY!" He kissed her on the cheek.

"Puh-lease." Lucy giggled. "Ok. Let's just meet at the park at 6:00pm tonight. And do not be late!"

"It's officially a date. I'll see you then." Natsu said as the bell rang for the end of lunch. "Anyway, I'll see you later. I got art with the Reedus man." Natsu waved and left.

 _It's a date._ Lucy thought to herself.

* * *

Lucy looked at herself in the mirror. She wore a blue cardigan that bared her shoulders with a matching crop top, a sexy dark blue skirt and burgundy boots with long dark blue socks.

"Levy! I look so slutty!" Lucy screamed and tried to cover herself with her curtain.

"If you keep doing that, then all those strangers outside will see ya." Levy stated. Lucy screamed and sighed.

"Seriously help me. If I wear this he's gonna wanna grope me." Lucy sat on the ground.

"He's won't. Besides, it seems to me and Gajeel that he's definitely changed." Levy said with a smile. "You know usually in his relationships, by now he would have slept with them." Levy helped herself to a plate of cookies.

"What…exactly are you implying?" Lucy asked.

"What I'm trying to say is that you brought out the best of him. He's a totally different person now and he's totally crazy about you. The other day when you were in the hospital, he couldn't stop worrying about you. He never felt that way even with Lisanna." Levy stated with a grin. Lucy blushed profusely.

"He really did feel that way?"

"Yeah." Levy munched away on the cookies. "Anyway, you should get going. You don't wanna be late on your first date." Lucy got up and waved.

"Bye Levy, bye Olga, and bye to you too, Plue." She ruffled her dog's hair and closed the front door behind her.

"Where are you going, Natsu?" Wendy asked. "And why are you wearing that weird one-sleeved coat thing?"

"What? You don't think this looks cool?" Natsu grinned.

"No, not these days." Wendy replied.

"UUUUGH! I'll just find something else to wear." Natsu stormed up the stairs.

"Who knew Natsu cared this much about fashion." Igneel raised an eyebrow.

"I have to agree, this is so unlike him." Grandeeney said with a frown. Natsu came out of his room wearing a white t-shirt with jeans with chains hanging from pockets.

"What d'you think now, Wendy?" Natsu said just as Zeref came in.

"I think that if it were a little colder in here, I could see your nipples through that shirt." Zeref laughed.

"Hey, Zeref. What are you doing here?" Igneel asked.

"I need to borrow some money." He replied with a frown.

"I won't here the end of this. Bye guys." Natsu walked out the front door. Natsu arrived at the park. Lucy was already there sitting on a swing.

"You're late, Natsu." She said coyly.

"Uh, no. It's 5:55. You're way too early." Natsu replied. Lucy giggled. Then she noticed what he was wearing and looked at what she was wearing.

"AH! I overdressed." She moaned and covered her face.

"Eh, there's nothing wrong with wearing something like that. It's cute, formal and casual all at the same time."

"What are you, a fashion designer?" Lucy said sarcastically.

"No, I am Natsu. Your one and only." Natsu grinned. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"So 'one and only', where do you plan on taking me?" Lucy asked with a coy smile.

"You like dancing?"

"Yeah?"

"Good. I know this great little place." Natsu put his arm around her and walked.

"Moondance Diner?!" Lucy exclaimed. Natsu took her to a small 50's restaurant.

"C'mon it'll be fun. I'll show you." Natsu grabbed her hand and dragged her in. Inside was filled with strangely dressed waiters, black and white tiles and couch chairs. They sat down at a table by the window. Lucy noticed a slot machine.

"Uh, what does that do?" Lucy pointed to the machine.

"You have a coin?" Natsu asked. Lucy tossed him a coin. He put it in the slot machine and pulled the lever. Music started playing.

"YMCA?" Lucy giggled. The dressed waiters and waitresses jumped onto the counter and started dancing. Lucy laughed hysterically.

"See? You're laughing." Natsu pointed at her. Lucy giggled.

"So anyway, how'd you know this place?" Lucy asked.

"Levy used to work here as a waitress." Natsu replied. "We would just taunt her by playing this song over and over again just to make her dance on the counter."

"You evil bastard." Lucy teased. "By the way, what did she wear?"

"Oh this outfit with a blonde wig and giant fake boobs." Natsu pushed out his hands to emphasize.

"Oh my god." Lucy laughed.

"By the way I've been wanting to ask you this…" Natsu started.

"Yeah? What is it?" Lucy asked.

"The finals are coming up. We're going against Saber Tooth Academy and it's gonna be held at Fairy Tail Academy. So…"

"I would be honored to go down there and cheer you on." Lucy interjected. Natsu blushed and smiled.

"Thanks." Natsu replied with a giant grin. Lucy grinned back. A waitress appeared and handed them both a menu.

"Hi, welcome to the Moondance diner may I take your order?" She said in a friendly way.

"Now what shall I have…" She flipped through the menu. "The hell…these things have super weird names! Barbara Streisandwich?"

"Um don't forget the Tim McGRAW salmon." Natsu pointed out.

"You know what? I think I'll have a burger." Lucy said.

"I dunno all these things are super good. I guess I'll just have cheesecake and a burger." Natsu said.

"Just cheesecake?" Lucy raised an eyebrow as the waitress left. Natsu usually ate so much, Lucy had to go to the bathroom and barf at his sloppiness.

"Eh, I just don't really have an appetite right now." Natsu stated.

"Aw, something bothering you at home or at school?" Lucy asked.

"Nah, just my brother. He just can't seem to manage life at all. You know once he got arrested." Natsu said.

"Oh, and why is that?" Lucy asked.

"For destroying an island." Natsu said. "He…blew it up." Lucy gasped.

"Badass." Lucy said. Their food arrived in the nick of time. Lucy cut her burger with a knife and fork.

"Who eats burgers like that?" Natsu looked at her.

"I do." She replied.

"You're so weird, Lucy Kayla." Natsu teased.

"Oh yeah and like you're not." Lucy rolled her eyes and giggled. The rest of the night seemed a blur. They chatted, laughed and Natsu kept on entering coins in the slot machine just to see the waiters and waitresses dance.

"Oh man! That was awesome!" Natsu said on the way back.

"Yes because all the staff had to dance just for you." Lucy said sarcastically.

"Didn't I show you a good time?" Natsu put his arm around her. Lucy tried to make it seem like she didn't by looking away. But Natsu saw it.

"You did have a good time didn't ya?" Natsu nudged her arm with his hand.

"I did not." Lucy said quietly.

"Yeah you did." Natsu teased.

"Ok, ok. I did have a good time." Lucy said.

"So does this count as a good first date?" Natsu grinned hopefully. Lucy paused, and held Natsu's hand on her shoulder.

"Yes it sure does." Lucy stared into his eyes, and saw the entire galaxy.


	8. The Game

Natsu trained hard for the next few weeks. Lucy always waited for him after practice. After practice, Natsu would walk her home and she would immediately work on her sign for the game.

"So…what do you think?" Lucy asked Levy one day at Lucy's home. Levy looked at it. It was filled with peace signs and pictures of Natsu and the caption said _I LOVE THE CAPTAIN_ in rainbow colored letters.

"You know you really didn't have to make a sign that cheesy." Levy said, sitting on a chair..

"I know but you know I've never been to a soccer game before, especially when my boyfriend is playing." Lucy said nervously.

"I take it you guys are officially dating?" Levy said.

"Yep." Lucy collapsed on her bed and fiddled with the tubes of her cannula.

"My gosh! You guys are such a cute couple!" Levy gushed and jumped up and down.

"Calm down, Levy. It's not like you and Gajeel aren't cute." Lucy stated.

"Oh yeah, sure." Levy groaned.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked worriedly and sat up.

"Nothing, it's just…we had a small fight." Levy replied. "But it's nothing major it was just a small one. We'll make up."

"I'm sure you will." Lucy ruffled her hair. Plue suddenly appeared and ran on the sign.

"No, Plue! The paint is still wet! …" It was too late. Plue already ran off, leaving a trail of rainbow footprints on the floor and the sign.

"Oh no…dad is gonna kill me, Olga is gonna kill me, I'm gonna kill me…oh shit…" Lucy panicked.

"Don't panic, Lu. Look at what Plue did, he made a pattern!" Levy put her arm around Lucy and pointed to the sign where Plue stepped on. It was true, he made a cute little pattern with paw prints. "Now not only does it look chic, Natsu will adore it too." Levy stated.

"Oh yeah." She bent down beside Plue. "Good boy, Plue. Now get your dirty paws off the floor!" She screamed. Levy laughed and helped her clean up.

Natsu kicked the ball hard and made the goal.

"Nice work, Dragneel. You've been practicing hard, kiddo." Mr. Clive said with a grin.

"You really got working since you asked your girlfriend to the game." Gray said after practice in the changing room.

"Oh yeah, I'm all fired up." Natsu cracked his knuckles. "By the way, didn't you ask Juvia?"

"No need, I know she's already gonna show up." Gray stated. Natsu and Gray both remembered when Juvia and Gray first met. So much stalking and flirting. Gray sighed.

"So anyway I'll see you at the game." Natsu grabbed his bag and walked out of the changing room. For some reason, Lucy wasn't there. His phone buzzed and he checked his messages. One was from Lucy.

' _Sorry hon. Working on the sign. Go fairies ;)'_ It said. Natsu texted back.

' _K._ _3_ _U.'_ He texted back. He walked home alone, knowing he has all the support he needs in the world.

The day of the game arrived. Lucy and Erza sat in the 2 seats closest to the field.

"This is so exciting!" Lucy squirmed nervously as she pulled down the handle of her wheelie bag.

"It's such a shame that Jellal had to miss this." Erza sighed.

"Uh oh. What happened there?" Lucy asked.

"Nothing. He just doesn't like soccer." Erza replied. The Fairy Tail soccer team arrived on the field. Lucy held up the sign.

"Go Fairies! Go Natsu! I LOVE YOU, BAE!" She screamed. Natsu looked into the crowd and saw Lucy holding up the sign. Natsu winked at her and ran onto the field.

"Juvia loves Gray-sama!" Juvia screamed and waved with the cheerleaders.

"I WISH YOU GOOD LUCK, GAJEEL!" Levy shouted and jumped up and down throwing her pom-poms in the air.

"Jeez, you guys really need to calm down and let me have a drink in peace." Cana said soberly as she and the other cheerleaders put on a routine. Lucy waved the sign. The game started. Lucy had no idea what was going on but all she knew was to cheer when Natsu scored.

"This game makes no sense whatsoever but I am EXCITED!" Lucy grinned widely.

"Well from what I can tell, Saber Tooth and Fairy Tail are tied." Erza said.

"You don't seem to be that excited about the game and you know more about this than I do." Lucy said.

"That exactly." Erza replied. "Anyway, I'm gonna get some popcorn. You want any?"

"Sure, sound great." Lucy said with a smile.

"Then I'll order the larger box." Erza walked off. Lucy waved the sign like mad.

"Go Natsu!" She giggled and waved the sign. With Erza gone, the game seemed more and more confusing. All she could do was watch the sweaty junior year boys kick a black and white ball away from each other just to get it into their goal. Erza came back with a giant box of popcorn and a mega-large Coca-Cola drink.

"Erza! You're gonna drink all that?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I've never had a Coca-Cola this large. This is my very first time!" Erza squealed excitedly in a way that didn't sound like Erza. Lucy sighed and continued waving her sign while munching on popcorn.

"This is kinda getting boring." Lucy whispered to herself.

"Oh?" Erza looked at her slyly.

"I STILL LOVE NATSU!" Lucy screamed.

"Ok…" Erza rolled her eyes. Lucy sighed and waved her sign.

"GO FAIRIES! I LOVE NATSU! I LOVE THE CAPTAIN!" She screamed. Lucy looked into the crowd. Natsu running for the ball. He tripped. His leg bent in a way it shouldn't. Lucy covered her face with the sign and all she could hear his scream shattering her heart.

"Natsu!" Lucy ran to his aid after he hopped off the field with Gajeel supporting him.

"Lucy Kayla…" He looked up at her. He was obviously in a lot of pain.

"What the hell happened out there? I kinda had to hide behind the sign." Lucy scratched the back of her head.

"Yeah I noticed. I broke my leg, horribly." Natsu stated.

"Is it ok if I leave 'im with ye 'cause I gotta get back in the game." Gajeel asked Lucy.

"Yeah sure." Lucy put Natsu's arm around her shoulder. She supported him while dragging her oxygen tank.

"I suck. Saber Tooth is totally gonna win now. And I'm sure I'm gonna lose me reputation in front of Sting, Rogue and the other bastards at Saber Tooth." Natsu groaned.

"Aw, don't be such a downer. Besides, I'm really proud of you." Lucy smiled.

"You are?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Going up in front of a bunch of people to play against those idiots is something I admire of you. Plus this is the finals which means even if you lose, you'll be the second best Fiore. And I'll love you, no matter what." Lucy smiled.

"Thanks, Lucy." Natsu planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Hey, you stopped calling me Lucy Kayla." Lucy said.

"Yeah well it was way too long." Natsu stated. Lucy laughed, then she frowned.

"By the way, please lose some weight." She teased.

"Lol." Natsu laughed. They arrived at the nurse's office, but did not expect to see a beautiful white haired girl there.

"Mira-Jane!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Oh my. What happened to you, Natsu?" Mira-Jane put her dainty white hand over her mouth.

"Soccer accident." Lucy explained. Natsu sat down in the nurse's office while Lucy waited outside, as she was told to. Natsu stayed in there for kind of a long time. At times, she could hear him groaning in pain. After a while, Natsu came out with crutches and a cast.

"You're doing just fine." Lucy stroked his hair and kissed his forehead. "Let's just sit the game out." The two sat in the cafeteria and chatted. It was later discovered that Natsu was not the only one with a broken limb.

"Sting." Natsu growled as a blonde man, captain of the Saber Tooth soccer team, with a sly grin and a broken arm walked toward them.

"Hello, Natsu." He smirked. Lucy looked at him. He definitely looked like trouble.

"Go fuck yourself." Natsu growled.

"Ooh, trying to look tough huh?" Sting smirked.

"Ok pretty boy." Lucy got up. "I have no idea what you're trying to do here but can you please get the hell out of here."

"Ooh, pretty girl with nose tubes standing up for her boyfriend?" Sting laughed evilly. Lucy sighed.

"Looks like Ludicrous Lucy is back." Lucy ripped of her cannula.

"Uh Lucy?" Natsu said as she untangled herself. Lucy walked right up to Sting and pinched his ear. Sting winced in pain as Lucy yanked at his ear.

"Ok, pretty girl. Let go of my ear." Sting groaned. Lucy let go and he ran off. Lucy put the cannula back in her nose and sat down next to Natsu calmly.

"Ludicrous Lucy?" Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"When I was a kid, about 5 or 6, I tried to fight back to my dad. I sometimes got to him. That's when Levy gave me the nickname Ludicrous Lucy because she thought I was crazy going against my dad." Lucy stated.

"Your childhood seems pretty complicated." Natsu said.

"Yeah well, whose isn't?" Lucy smiled at Natsu. Levy, Juvia and Cana arrived in their cheerleader outfits.

"Hey Natsu. That was a real bitchin' move out there." Cana grinned slightly.

"Don't." Natsu growled.

"Well we just wanted to check if you're alright. We still have that routine to do and you know how pissed Mira-Jane gets when we miss a routine." Levy said.

"Mira-Jane? We just saw her in the nurse's office." Lucy said.

"Well she can easily multitask." Levy replied. "She is so good, sometimes we wonder if she's actually a mutant spider. Ms. Porlyusica took over when it was time for her to get on field."

"Uh guys. Routine?" Natsu said.

"Shit." Levy, Juvia and Cana ran out of the cafeteria. Lucy rubbed Natsu's back.

"Don't stress out, Natsu. You're still the best to me." Lucy giggled.

"Nah, s'okay babe." Natsu kissed Lucy's hand which made her giggle more.

"Hey. You wanna go out there and see who won?" Lucy asked.

"Sure." Natsu replied. Lucy helped him up out of the seat and walked with him to the stadium. While the game was going on and the crowd was cheering, Natsu and Lucy stayed at the back of the stadium and fed each other candy that Natsu brought for after the game.

"Hey can you toss one of the gummy bears into my mouth?" Lucy asked.

"Sure." Natsu reached into the packet and pulled out a small red gummy bear. "Open wide, Lucy Kayla." Lucy opened her mouth. Natsu aimed and tossed the bear at Lucy but missed and hit Lucy's nose.

"Ah!" Lucy scowled.

"Now, now, please don't yank on my ear." Natsu backed away. Lucy laughed and threw a packet of M&M's at him. Lucy giggled and socked his arm just as the crowd started cheering.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Lucy wondered aloud. Natsu got up on one foot and looked out at the field and saw his teammates all hugging each other.

"Looks like Fairy Tail won." Natsu replied with a sad grin. Lucy got up and put her head on his shoulder.

"It's ok. At least Fairy Tail won." Lucy lifted her head smiled at him. Gajeel, on the field, took the microphone from the commentator's hand.

"Hey there, everybody." Gajeel grinned as the crowd went wild. "Before I give the man back his mic, I'd just like to give our thanks to captain Dragneel. Whether yer here o' not, yer the best captain ever, man. We never coulda done this without 'cha." Natsu was shocked. Lucy scooched over closer to Natsu.

"See?" Lucy smiled at him. Natsu looked at her and sighed.

"You're a pain in my ass, Heartfilia." Natsu tried to look mad which mad Lucy giggle hysterically. Lucy planted a small kiss on his cheek.

"They love you, Natsu. And so does the crowd. Be proud of yourself. Don't forget I'll always be by your side." Lucy put a hand on his shoulder. Natsu took her hand and looked at her in the eyes.

"I'll be by your side too." Natsu and Lucy nuzzled noses against each other's. Love was in the air. Lucy could almost hear a song playing.


	9. Author's Note

**Hey guys, sorry this is not a chapter. I'm really, really sorry if you wanted more.**

 **So anyway, I'm writing this A/N to let you know that I'm not getting enough reviews and I strongly advise any of you who do read this story to PLEASE REVIEW.**

 **And also, I'm gonna be busy for the next few weeks so I might not update weekly. I'll update as much as I can but I promise I won't take more than a year. This I solemnly swear.**

 **And another thing, I'm running out of ideas so please review if you have more ideas that you could recommend me write into The Cause of Our Scars. I promise I'll give you credits if you want.**

 **Anyway, thank you and have nice day**


	10. Nowhere to Go

**Hiya guys! I've actually had this chapter ready for a while now and I'm back with a new chapter. Thanks for the encouraging reviews though. And one other thing, I'm considering writing a new fanfic about an OC. It's gonna be called The Shadow Knight. But enough about the future, live in the present and read! :)**

Lucy walked Natsu home on that Friday afternoon. Natsu demanded that he would walk Lucy home immediately after his leg was heeled. Lucy giggled and said it wasn't that big a deal.

"Oh come on, Lucy. Don't you even know that the _guys_ walk the _girls_ home?"

"Natsu. It's not that big a deal. You can walk my home, I can walk you home but don't go all crazy about it." Lucy patted his head like a little boy as he wobbled on his crutches like he was taking his first steps.

"Ok…" Natsu pouted like a 3-year-old. Lucy giggled.

"Come on, kiddo. Time to go home like a good boy."

"Ok. Stop treating me like kid." Natsu pouted.

"Ok." Lucy said sarcastically. She put Natsu's bag on his shoulder and walked home with him. Lucy shivered as they walked through the park. The days have gone colder as autumn slowly turned into winter. They walked up to Natsu's front porch.

"I'll call you." Natsu grinned as he opened the door. He let himself in and closed the door.

Lucy walked home alone. She couldn't contain her smile as a cold wind blew. The time spent between them was indescribable. She could actually feel the love in the air when she was with him. She skipped all the way home, but was shocked to see a note on the door of her house.

 _An eviction note? But why?_ Lucy thought to herself. She looked around and saw her bags lying on the ground. She tried to open the door with her key but it didn't work. Plue had his leash on and his leash was tied to a tree next to the house. He barked at Lucy to get her attention.

"Hey Plue." She knelt down and ruffled his head. "Do you know what happened here?" Plue didn't say anything. She took out her phone and called Olga, but nobody replied. She picked up her bags. She felt like she was carrying tons of iron to Hargeon. Lucy picked up Plue leash and searched to find a place to stay. She walked through the city of Magnolia. The sky turned dark like a storm. Rain started to pour down like tears. Lucy continued to wander around town. Plue started to become cold and tired. He rubbed his head on Lucy leg and shivered.

"I'm so sorry Plue." Lucy slowly bent down, unzipped on of the bags, wrapped a towel around his wet body and placed him inside the bag, with a little bit unzipped so he could breath. It was hard to hold all of her bags and still pull her oxygen tank. At long last, she found a deserted store with flyers stuck to the windows and dust all over. She wiped a spot clean and sat down. It was cold and it wasn't even winter yet. Plue's head popped out from the bag. She rubbed his head. She slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Lucy woke up cold and alone. She looked to her right, it was still raining badly. Plue slept soundly beside her. She ruffled his head as he stirred.

"Well Plue, we should start looking for a proper place to stay. She tied him to his leash, grabbed her bags and her wheelie bag and walked through town. An early Saturday morning in Magnolia was quiet. Shops opened up later and people stayed in their homes, safe and dry from the cold rain. She continued onward. She considered staying in a friend's house.

 _I really don't want their parents to go out of their way just to help me. That'll be a bit impolite. Well, I'm fine with going to find Natsu but I don't know his parents that well and it'll be awkward. Levy's always unavailable so that's down. And Loke…well, Loke doesn't like people not in his family in his house, other than his girlfriends._ Lucy sighed and sat on the wet sidewalk. She hugged her legs and hid her face. Plue, still in the bag, popped his head out and looked at her sadly. Suddenly, the area around her stopped raining. It was still raining badly but she wasn't getting wet anymore. She looked up and saw a familiar face with a baffled expression holding an umbrella over her.

"Lucy? What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Natsu…" She lowered her head as the rain continued to pour.

"What's the matter?" Natsu sat down beside her.

"I don't know." Lucy replied. "We just got evicted and I can't reach Olga." Natsu let Lucy bury her face in his shoulder.

"Why don't you come live with me for a while?" Natsu suggested. Lucy pulled away from Natsu.

"I…I just can't ask that of you…" Lucy replied.

"Come on, don't be so shy. Just stay for as long as you need." Natsu grabbed on of her bags, but due to his injury, he accidently slipped. Lucy steadied him just in time.

"Let me handle those bags." Lucy giggled. She picked up her bags and walked with Natsu to his place. He opened the door to his place. It was much warmer than usual somehow. Natsu showed Lucy to the guest room.

"Make yourself at home, Lucy Kayla." Natsu said. Lucy put down her bags. Plue jumped out of the bag and sat on the floor.

"I can't thank you enough." Lucy's voice quivered. Natsu brought her into his arms.

"No need to thank me." Natsu stroked her hair. They let go of each other. "By the way you have a bathroom in your room if you wanna take a shower."

"Ok. But no peeking." Lucy faked a sly grin. Natsu returned that grin as Lucy entered the bathroom. Natsu left Lucy's new room only to be greeted by Wendy holding her white cat, Carla.

"Natsu! Guess what? My results came out today and turns out I'm qualified to go to Fairy Tail Academy for high school on a scholarship!" She squealed and jumped up and down. Carla looked completely unamused in her arms.

"Ok, Wendy. You're starting to sound more like a 6th grader than an 8th grader." Natsu patted her head.

"Is Lucy here?" Wendy peered behind Natsu.

"Yeah, she's kinda homeless right now." Natsu replied.

"Oh no. What happened there?" Wendy asked.

"She got evicted from her house." Natsu whispered. "Now don't go running off and telling your friends that some person living in your house."

"Ok." Wendy jokingly saluted to Natsu and ran off to the basement. Lucy walked out of the bathroom. The ends of her hair still dripping with water. Natsu knocked on her door.

"Hey Lucy. You want some coffee?" Natsu opened the door with a cup in his hand. Lucy turned around.

"Sure." Lucy took the cup and sipped the coffee.

"Hope you're feeling better." Natsu rubbed circles on her back. Lucy sighed.

"Yeah." Lucy smiled slightly.

"Hey. My parents won't be home till nine. What do you say we order some pizza and watch movies?" Natsu suggested.

"Ok then." Lucy smiled.

"Alright. What type do you want?" Natsu hopped down the stairs.

"Hawaiian." Lucy replied. "And don't you THINK about partying till one."

"I told you my parents would be back at nine. Besides, last time I did that was at a friends place."

"Oh? What happened there?" Lucy asked.

"Eh, kind of an embarrassing story." Natsu sat on the banister. "You know Laxus Dreyar right?"

"The principal's grandson? I guess yeah."

"Well, uh, I went to one of his super cool parties. I brought my girlfriend with me. Then we bunny-humped in one of the bedrooms." Natsu replied. Lucy laughed.

"Oh my god, you adorable little weirdo!" Lucy leaned against the banister. "But seriously. Why would you go…" she made hand gestures. "Canoodling…in someone's room?"

"First of all, 'canoodling'? Second of all, we wouldn't have gotten caught if she didn't keep complaining about the bedsheets!" Natsu complained.

"Heh, lol." Lucy giggled. Natsu walked to the kitchen with Lucy slowly lugging her wheelie bag. Wendy was dancing around in the kitchen whirling Carla in her hands while Natsu was phoning the pizza place.

"Yeah, can I get a 3 meat lovers pizza and 1 Hawaiian." Natsu said.

"Hey Lucy, I have a plan." Wendy whispered in Lucy ear. Lucy giggled.

"Address? I am uh…"

"Natsu! I'm getting bored over here all by myself!" Lucy said in a high-pitched girlie voice.

"Come on, Natsu. Join us in our loooove!" Wendy giggled. Natsu looked back at them with a face of disgust and question.

"We live in…"

"Natsu! Make out with me!" Wendy screamed.

"Gross! I'm not gonna make out with you!" Natsu whisper-shouted. He quickly said his address and hung up. Lucy and Wendy laughed and high-fived each other.

"What the hell was that?!" Natsu screamed.

"A prank." Lucy laughed.

"Ok. You both are so dead." Natsu chased them around the house. Wendy was faster than Natsu but Lucy had to pull her wheelie bag with her. Natsu lunged at her and they both fell on the couch laughing. Natsu tickled her till tears came running down her eyes. They stared into each other's eyes.

"This is fun." Lucy whispered.

"Yeah…" Natsu whispered back. Wendy ran up from behind.

"I've got you now!" Wendy jumped on top of both of them. Natsu fell on Lucy.

"Get…off…me…NOW!" Lucy winced in pain. Natsu and Wendy laughed and got off of her. Lucy took deep breaths.

"You guys…are so…freaking…heavy!" Lucy breathed. Natsu and Wendy laughed harder. They had a fun evening with laughter, dancing and screaming. But in the middle of the night when Natsu sneaked downstairs to get cake from the fridge, he heard crying sounds, they were from Lucy's room. He slowly knocked on the door and opened it. There was Lucy curled up in the corner of the room with a blue cat hoodie.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"Nothing, just a little homesick." Lucy replied.

"Homesick? But you live with that crazy drunken asshole."

"Yeah but he's hardly ever there. I feel lonely without all my stuffed animals." Lucy whimpered. "And why the hell are you half naked?!" Lucy looked at Natsu. All he wore were his boxers.

"This is how I sleep, dummy!" Natsu exclaimed. Lucy sighed. "Well I'm gonna go." He opened the door to leave.

"No wait!" Lucy interrupted. He turned around to look at her. "Can…can you stay here…and keep me company…please?"

"Sure." Natsu and Lucy climbed into bed together. Lucy buried her face into Natsu's warm chest. Natsu wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close to him. They both fell asleep in the abyss of warmth and darkness.


	11. Winter

**Hey guys. If you go to my profile, you'll see I've started another story. It's called the Shadow Knight. But still, read this one right now :)and please review more :D**

"Oh god, who knew it'll be so cold nowadays." Lucy shivered. It was nighttime on a Wednesday evening (and a month since Natsu's leg healed) and Natsu and Lucy just finished a tiring day at Fairy Tail Academy trying to help Natsu catch up with his homework. Natsu's scarf was wrapped around both their necks as they walked down the lonely dark street with linked arms.

"We're gonna be home soon so don't die on me." Natsu teased. Lucy sighed slightly. They walked through the dimly lit park. Only one light shone above a park bench. It seemed oddly eerie even though her arm was linked with Natsu's. All of a sudden Natsu shook his head like a wet dog.

"What…" Lucy looked at him.

"Sorry." He said. "Thought I felt something." Lucy looked back at the path. She looked at her pigtail drooped on her shoulder, there was something small and white. She looked back over at Natsu who had his gloved hand held out. He was looking at the palm of his hand. More small white spots fell from the sky and into his hand. They both looked around.

"It's snowing." Lucy said cheerfully. She was right. More and more larger snowflakes fell onto the path and the dimly lit streetlamp. What at first was a few tiny snowflakes falling down had now turned into a small storm. Cold wind blew piles of snow into the couple's faces.

"We should really go." Natsu started walking faster. Lucy tried to keep up while lugging around her wheelie bag. When they arrived at Natsu's front porch, they were both almost blue in the face and they shivered like crazy.

"Unlock that fucking door faster!" Lucy whined.

"You don't think I'm trying!" Natsu shot back. He managed to open the door and they both stumbled in. They sat on the floor and sighed.

"It's so much warmer in here!" Lucy smiled with relief.

"Totally." Natsu rubbed his hands together. Igneel, Grandeeney and Wendy were in the living room.

"Hey kids, welcome home." Igneel said warmly.

"Hi Dad." Natsu replied as he and Lucy took off their coats.

"It just started to snow." Lucy stated.

"Really!" Wendy looked out the window. "It is!" Wendy cheered. Igneel and Grandeeney looked out the window as well.

"It's really beautiful." Grandeeney stated. Natsu and Lucy walked up the stairs to Lucy's room. It started to snow even more. Lucy changed into her cat hoodie and pajama shorts. She sat by the window in a fetal position staring out at the snowfall. Natsu sat on her bed staring at her. Her shorts were so short it looked a lot like she wasn't wearing any bottoms.

"Hey you're gonna be cold if you stay like that." Natsu stated.

"Nah, it's ok." Lucy pulled stack of papers from a drawer and began furiously writing. Natsu creeped over to her side.

"Whatcha writin'?" Natsu asked childishly.

"Nothing…" Lucy replied.

"Come on. Can I see? Please?" Natsu bent his head and gave her puppy dog eyes.

"No."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Natsu begged.

"No!" Lucy poked Natsu with her pen.

"Lucy!" Natsu jumped on top of Lucy (minding his weight) and tickled her.

"Stop it!" Lucy laughed. She tried to fight back but her arms were held by Natsu. They stared into each others' eyes. Natsu got off of her. Natsu rested his head on her chest and nuzzled the side of his face against it. Lucy sighed. "Fine. But only after I'm done."

"Yay!" Natsu kissed Lucy cheek and pranced around. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"You weirdo." Lucy giggled and adjusted her cannula.

The next, everything was covered in white. The trees, the ground and the houses. School was cancelled due to the blizzard the previous night. Lucy walked out of the house lugging her wheelie bag and her white ice skates tied together at the laces on her shoulder with Natsu at her side.

"It's practically a winter wonderland!" Lucy gushed as Plue jumped at her feet wearing his mini dog coat. Happy followed Natsu out solemnly as if to say 'I hate winter'.

"Yeah." Natsu smiled. It was still snowing slightly. He held out his hand as a small delicate snowflake fell into his gloved palm.

"Got your skates?" Lucy asked.

"Yup." He held them up.

"Let's go!" Lucy grabbed Natsu hand and dragged him off to the Magnolia river. When they got there, it was frozen blank. Straight out of a scene from Frozen. Gray, Juvia, Gajeel and Levy were already there.

"Hey, Lu!" Levy raised her hand to waved but slipped and caught by Gajeel.

"Careful, shrimp. You don't even know how to skate." Gajeel said.

"I so can skate!" Levy shot back.

"Gray-sama is so amazing at skating!" Juvia gushed. Gray rolled his eyes and laughed. Natsu and Lucy put on their skates.

"You sure you're gonna be ok?" Natsu asked.

"I'll be fine." Lucy replied with a smile. Lucy pulled out the straps of her wheelie bag and put them over her shoulders. The duo stepped onto the ice. Natsu started walking on the ice cautiously.

"Hey Natsu. Been a long time since you went out on the ice!" Gray called out.

"Didn't think you'd be able to do it again, Salamander." Gajeel said smugly.

"What…?" Lucy looked at Natsu.

"Yeah this thing happened way back in freshman year. I fell through the ice." Natsu stated.

"Aw, poor you." Lucy said sympathetically. "Now stop walking like an old grandma and start skating normally!" Lucy skated off. Even with a heavy oxygen tank on her back she still managed to skate nicely. Plue was flicking bits of snow at Happy much to his annoyance.

"Uh…Juvia still can't do it." Juvia sat on the ice and sulked. Gray skidded to her side and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, you can do this. I'll help you." Gray helped her up and started teaching her to skate.

"I think I got this…" Levy started to skate properly sliding her feet on the ice.

"Nice job, shrimpy." Gajeel grinned widely.

"Wait for me Lucy!" Natsu yelled. Lucy stopped and looked at him.

"Catch me if you can, _Salamander_!" Lucy giggled. Natsu charged towards her.

"I'm gonna!" He reached out his hand but slipped and fell on his stomach. Lucy giggled and bent down next to him.

"Come on." Lucy grabbed his hand and helped him up. "Like this." Lucy slid her feet one after the other. Natsu tried to copy her. "Yeah like that. You got it." Lucy held Natsu's hand as they skated across the ice. Natsu slowly moved his legs.

"Yeah, I think I got it!" Natsu laughed. "I can skate again!"

"Wow." Lucy rolled her eyes. All of a sudden she tripped and fell on top of Natsu. They slid across the ice like a sled and crashed into a snowy bank.

"Ow." Natsu rubbed his temples. Lucy rested her head on his chest and sighed.

"I am gonna die soon." She sighed. The others rushed to their side.

"Lu! Are you ok?" Levy asked worriedly.

"Almost killed yourself again, Salamander." Gajeel rolled his eyes. The two sat up.

"I think we should go home." Lucy said. Natsu helped her up.

"Agreed." He looked at the others. "Wanna join us?"

"Sure." Gray grinned. They walked over to Natsu's place. Natsu looked at the others and grinned evilly as they strolled through the park. He bent down and slowly grabbed a pile of snow. He mashed it into a snowball and looked around for someone to aim at. He eyed a certain navy blue-haired boy.

"Hey!" Gray yelled and turned to Natsu who was looking at him innocently.

"I totally did nothing." Natsu grinned.

"That's it!" Gray grabbed a wad of snow, mashed it furiously into a ball and threw it at Natsu. He ducked just in time but the snowball hit Lucy right on the face. Natsu froze in guilt. Lucy coughed and took a deep breath.

"You're going down, Fullbuster." She said quietly and threw a snowball and Gray.

"Count me in!" Gajeel chucked a snowball at Juvia who squealed when it hit her.

"Juvia will destroy you!" She screamed and hit Levy with a snowball.

"Juvia!" Levy tried to throw a snowball at Juvia but Gray accidently intervened.

"Levy ain't deadly." Gray roared. Soon Snowball War I began and all the soldiers fought hard with all their might. In the end, all the others sat on the snow shivering while one stood alone in triumph.

"AHAHHA! I deserve the victory after you all treated my unjustly." Gray laughed maniacally

"Bastard. I WILL AVENGE MYSELF!" Natsu weakly threw a snowball at Gray and sighed. "Let's go home." Natsu lifted a shivering cold Lucy off the ground and helped her back to the house. The others grudgingly followed them, even Gray who enjoyed staying outside. Natsu opened the front door with a slow shivering hand and they all tumbled into the house like dominos.

"J-J-J-J-Juvia i-i-is c-c-cold." Juvia shivered and lay on the floor and jumped on Gray's back. "Gray-sama warms Juvia." They all sat on the couch, completely exhausted from the snowball fight. Lucy snuggled up to Natsu.

"Hey you guys, I head Mira and Laxus got back together." Levy said as she plonked her small butt on Gajeel's lap.

"Aw, what happened to Justine?" Gajeel asked.

"Mr. Freed Justine turned out to be gay." Levy replied.

"Poor Mira." Juvia said solemnly.

"Poor Mr. Justine! Got dumped for being a gay teacher." Natsu laughed.

"You know there's nothing wrong with being gay." Lucy glared at Natsu.

"Yeah but he was straight and then he turned out to be gay." Natsu said while still laughing.

"Have some respect you evil bastard." Gray punched his arm. After the others left, Natsu went outside to get the mail. He was surprised to see there was a letter for Lucy.

"Hey Lucy, you've got mail." He said as he opened the door.

"Really? I never get mail!" Lucy tore open the envelope, but her expression changed to see it was from her father. Lucy slowly opened the letter.

 _"Dear Lucy._

 _I have killed myself. As you may know, we've lost all the money and I had to dismiss Olga. I was wandering around searching for you and I didn't even know where to start. So I sent this letter to the police office to try and find you and that's where I died. I know you may never forgive me for all the things I've done to you but this is a start._

 _I loved your mother so much. She was my everything, my stars, my moon, my sun. I was so delighted when she got pregnant with you, our daughter. But she got lung cancer and died. I was so devastated I took it all out on you. I hope you live a long and happy life without anyone holding back._

 _Lot's of love_

 _Father._

Lucy bit her lip and fought back tears. Why was she crying for the guy who abused her for years? Natsu put his arms around her.

"What the matter?"

"My father killed himself. Because he thought if he did that, I'd be happier." She sobbed. "I don't know why I'm crying. He abused me for all these years but-"

"Hey. It's ok. It's ok." Natsu stroked her hair as she wept against his shoulder. "He killed himself for you. That's why." Lucy kept sobbing. It felt like her tears were a never ending waterfall. Now both of her parents were dead. Natsu pulled away from the hug.

"You want some time alone?" Natsu asked. Lucy shook her head.

"Please stay. I want some company." Lucy slumped herself in his arms and cried as he rubbed circles on her back. "I still don't know why I'm crying."

"That's ok." Natsu said. That night, Lucy couldn't sleep. She kept thinking of her parents. They were both in heaven, together again. Lucy always thought she'd be the first one out of both of them to die. She adjusted the cannula on her nose and looked at her phone, it was two a.m. in the morning and she was still wide awake. Natsu slowly peered into her room.

"You seem to have a knack of knowing whether I'm asleep or not." Lucy said quietly. Natsu smiled.

"I just wanna make sure you're ok. I know you're upset about your father's death." Natsu said quietly.

"Can you please accompany me tonight?" Lucy asked. Natsu nodded and climbed into bed next to her. He wrapped his arms around poor Lucy's cold body while she buried her face into his warm chest. He was her sun, her moon, her stars. Natsu stroked her hair while he felt her breathing in and out on his chest.


	12. Another Author's Note (sorry)

**Hi friends**

 **I know you guys are probably wondering when the next chapter's gonna be uploaded, well I have a deadline :D**

 **The next chapter will be uploaded on Christmas day as a Christmas special :D This i solemnly swear. I'm sorry but it's gonna take that long ;(**

 **And please review about what are your favorite things to do on Christmas. And i've also got a poll on my profile about who you ship the most in Fairy Tail.** **Please vote :D**

 **And also, please read the Shadow Knight. It's not NaLu but I hope you'll like it. It's about a girl who's magic is to requip. She goes to the Grand Magic Games and finds her childhood friend Rogue Cheney.**

 **Have a nice day :D**

 **-True Love JALS**


	13. Christmas

**Hey friends :) Sorry for the sad part in the last chapter. Sad things are all I can think of, holidays are just hard. Merry Christmas and please read The Shadow Knight :)**

* * *

Weeks after Lucy's father's death, winter break came rolling around the corner. Nobody could concentrate, not even the toughest teachers. Ms. Evergreen, hard teacher of botany who gave a lot of homework, decorated the class with Christmas trees, holly and even more flowers.

"Class, since it's almost Christmas break, you can take this time to relax. Please do not ruin the holly. Mr. Strauss, may I talk you outside for a moment please?" Ms. Evergreen looked at Elfman who followed her out the classroom.

"I wonder what they're talking about." Laki giggled.

"Laki, don't be such a gossip." Kinana said.

"So what do you guys plan on doing for Christmas break?" Lucy asked Levy and Gajeel.

"I was goin' ta just stay home play video games but Levy wanted ta go ta the new restaurant at the mall." Gajeel stated.

"Hey, that place is new and it's said to have awesome food!" Levy shot back.

"Juvia is invited to go to Gray-sama's house for dinner on Christmas!" Juvia hugged Gray's arm.

"Yeah. Erza and Jellal are gonna be there too 'cause mom and Ur are sisters." Gray said to Lucy. Ur was the mother of Jellal, Ultear and Meredy.

"How 'bout you, Lu?" Levy asked.

"Nothing much. Just stay home and wait for the day I die." Lucy fixed her cannula.

"Don't be such a downer." Natsu looked at Lucy.

"I know. Holidays are just hard." Lucy looked down.

"Ahem." Natsu coughed. Lucy looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

"And I still love you." Lucy said.

"Now I'm pleased." Natsu tried to kiss Lucy but she playfully pushed his face away. Natsu pouted. Lucy giggled. Ms. Evergreen opened the door to the classroom and let Elfman and herself in.

"Hey Elfman, what'd she say?" Natsu asked.

"I'm not gonna tell you! Real men don't let other people know about private conversations!" Elfman stated. Natsu rolled his eyes and held up his hands in sarcastic surrender. Elfman was now going back to his usual "man" routine. Ms. Evergreen was watching everyone get worked up about Christmas break.

"…and then we're going skiing at Mt. Hakobe with Jet and Droy. Gajeel wanted to bring Pantherlily to the hotel but Metalicana said to just leave the poor cat at Totomaru's place." Levy rambled on about what she and Gajeel were planning to do for winter break.

"Hey! I want Pantherlily to come to Mt. Hakobe but he just can't keep warm!" Gajeel retorted.

"Exactly!" Levy and Gajeel started bickering as per usual.

"Aw, they are so cute together." Mira-Jane giggled.

"So Mira, what are you gonna do over the break?" Lucy asked.

"Oh Laxus and I are going on a trip together to Tenrou Island where it's tropical at the moment." Mira-Jane replied with a smile. "Elfman couldn't come because he's busy and so it's just me, Laxus and Lisanna."

"Gee, wonder why Elfman couldn't go." Natsu whispered sarcastically to Gray.

"We're also gonna be doing some trekking and exploring the island. Legend has it that fairies live on the island." Mira-Jane giggled.

"You believe in fairies?" Juvia asked.

"Of course." Mira-Jane smiled. They chatted for another forty minutes until the bell rang for lunch. Lucy grabbed her lunch bag from her locker and ran to the cafeteria. On the way, she ran into a familiar white-haired girl and accidently spilled her pudding on her blue tie.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry, Lisanna!" Lucy put her hand over her mouth. "I'll go get the napkins." Lucy tried to run fast but couldn't because of her wheelie bag. When she came back, Lisanna wasn't happy.

"You'd better be sorry, blond bitch." She growled as Lucy wiped her tie as much as she could.

"I'm so sorry." Lucy repeated herself.

"Yeah you'd better be." Lisanna glared at Lucy as she went to go throw the napkins away. Lucy came back and apologized once more. "Jeez, how many times do you have to do that? It's so annoying! I don't know _why_ Natsu decided to be your boyfriend!"

"What?" Lucy said timidly. Lisanna yanked Lucy's arm and pinned her to a wall.

"Listen to me, bitch. Natsu belongs to me and me only. And when someone else has my bae, I don't ever let that go. Do you understand me?" Lisanna said menacingly.

"But, I never tried to hurt you. Why would you do this?" Lucy said quietly. Lisanna glared at Lucy for a moment, then slapped her hard right across the face, knocking her cannula out of her nostrils. Lucy coughed and wheezed as she put them back on. Lucy knelt down on the floor with Lisanna towering over her.

"Being with my bae is all that it takes to make me wanna get my revenge." Lisanna shoved Lucy and was about to slap her again when a tight grip was wrapped around her wrist. Lisanna turned around to see Natsu glaring at her.

"Stay away from my Lucy." Natsu growled.

"Oh Natsu." Lisanna took Natsu's hands and looked into his eyes. "Please ditch this sick bimbo and let NaLi start over again." She pleaded. Natsu yanked his hands out of hers.

"I said stay away from my Lucy." Natsu repeated himself. His eyes were boiling with anger.

"But-" Lisanna protested.

"You heard the man, stay away from Lucy." Erza came up from behind, along with the rest of Natsu's gang. Lisanna shrugged. She wanted Natsu so bad but Erza and the others were there. She ran off boiling with anger. Natsu knelt down beside a wheezing Lucy.

"You ok, Lucy?" Natsu asked worriedly. Lucy nodded and coughed the right side of her face was bright and boiling red from Lisanna's slap.

"You didn't show up at lunch so we tried to find you." Levy stated.

"And found that snot-nosed little insect trying to pummel you." Gajeel said.

"Thanks you guys." Lucy said quietly with a smile as Natsu helped her up. They walked to their table. Finally, after long hours of class time, the bell rang for the end of the day. Natsu and Lucy walked home together. For some reason, it was more quiet than usual. Finally, Natsu broke the silence.

"Hey, are you ok?" Natsu asked silently.

"Yeah, it's just…holidays have always been hard." Lucy replied.

"Is it about Lisanna?" Natsu started to get madder at Lisanna.

"No, not really. Well, today's the day my brother disappeared." Lucy said silently.

"You had a brother?" Natsu asked, surprised.

"I did, I just never talk about him." Lucy replied solemnly. "His name was Erik and he was my twin. He disappeared when I was thirteen years old." Natsu looked at Lucy who was starting to tear up. Natsu put his arm around her and kissed her cheek.

"It's gonna be ok." Natsu smiled. "I'll always be for you." Lucy smiled and put her head on his shoulder.

"I know you always will." She whispered.

* * *

On winter break, Wendy, holding Carla on her arm, ran around knocking the doors of everyone in the family, including Lucy's.

"Hey guys! It's Christmas and there are a bunch of presents under the tree! Come on I wanna open them and see what they are! Come on it's Christmas!" She chanted excitedly at every door she knocked on. Natsu and Lucy came out of Lucy's bedroom. Lucy was decent, wearing leggings so that she's seem more decent while Natsu jumped out half naked. Lucy noticed this.

"Cut it out, there gonna think we did something in there!" Lucy whisper-shouted.

"It's no big deal." Natsu grinned, but went back into his own room to put on a t-shirt and trousers. The Dragneel family and Lucy went downstairs to where a Christmas tree was set up. There were tinsels, balls, candy canes and a star on top which Wendy put. Under the tree were piles of presents. Wendy was ripping open the presents that had her name on it.

"And as per usual, little Wendy gets the most." Zeref ruffled the little bluenette's hair. She ripped open a small box. Inside was a small letter. She opened the letter and blushed. It was from Romeo Conbolt, her classmate and crush.

' _Merry Christmas, Wendy._

 _Hope you have a great Christmas._

 _Algebra class was certainly more fun with you._

 _-Romeo_

 _P.S There's something I need to talk to you about._

Wendy blushed as Natsu playfully put his arm around his little sister.

"Romeo and Wendy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" He teased.

"You're so immature, Natsu." Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, Wendy." Natsu said. Lucy sat on the floor.

"So what did he get you, Wendy?" Lucy asked. Wendy opened the box to find a small pearl.

"He remembered…" Wendy gushed.

"Remembered what?" Zeref asked.

"He was walking me home after school and we past this jewelry store and I found this pearl and said it looked exactly like mom's before she sold it. My god, he remembered." Wendy looked at it and blushed.

"Yeah I remember when Zeref liked Mavis he bought her that ridiculously expensive crystal fairy." Natsu said.

"Natsu!" Zeref whined in an unusual and un-Zeref way. But Wendy held on to that sentence.

"What did you say?" She said.

"Ridiculously expensive crystal fairy." Natsu replied.

"She means before that, Natsu." Lucy nudged him.

"That Zeref liked Mavis?" Natsu wondered aloud.

"Wait, so you're implying that Romeo likes me?" Wendy started to look nervous.

"What, no, wait, what I'm trying to say is Zeref bought Mavis a super expensive crystal fairy. I'm not saying that he likes you or that he doesn't. I'm just saying…don't get your hopes up." Natsu said. Wendy nodded.

"I guess you're right." She said looking disappointed.

"But you know, you could always tell him." Natsu said.

"Bad idea." Wendy looked at him like he was selling her swampland in Florida, really cheap. "But I really like it." She squealed and showed her parents. Natsu grabbed a present from under the tree and put it on Lucy's lap. It had rosy pink wrapping paper tied with a gold ribbon. It had a paper tag that said _For my sweetest Lucy._

"Merry Christmas." He said with a smile.

"You got this for me?" Lucy said, flattered.

"Yeah, open it." Lucy tore open the pink wrapping paper. Inside was a card with a picture of the two of them on it. She opened the card.

 _Dear Lucy,_

 _Merry Christmas to you._

 _It's been quite short time since we've first met but it feels like an eternity. You are my diamond. You are my cherry blossom. You are the sparks in my heart. I'm so in love with you._

 _Love, Natsu._

"Aw, that's so sweet." Lucy blushed. Natsu's face turned as pink as his hair. Lucy giggled and opened the box. It was an N on a chain with small petite diamonds on it. She looked at Natsu.

"It's so beautiful." She gushed.

"I thought it reminded me of you. But now I realize that not even the most beautiful diamonds can compare with you." Natsu made Lucy turn around and tied the necklace on her neck. She turned back to him.

"N is for Natsu?" She looked into his eyes. He nodded. He put Lucy's hair behind her ear and looked deep into her eyes. They edged in closer. Natsu could feel Lucy's breath coming closer to him.

"Get a room, you two." Zeref interrupted. Natsu and Lucy looked at the black-haired guy sniffing and wiping his nose with a tissue.

"Hey, it's your fault you left Mavis." Natsu retorted.

"Wow, what a nice trip down memory lane." Zeref rolled his eyes. Igneel and Grandeeney chuckled in the background.

"Takes us down memory lane too, doesn't it?" Grandeeney looked at Igneel.

"It sure does." Igneel kissed Grandeeney's forehead. Grandeeney walked over to under the tree and pulled out a few boxes.

"Alright kids. Here are your Christmas presents from mom." Grandeeney announced and handed each kid a box. They each tore open the wrapping paper and saw hand-knitted sweaters.

"Aw, come on mom, you've given me the same thing for the past ten years!" Natsu moaned.

"Every year." Zeref put up his hands like a show person.

"I think it's pretty nice." Lucy admired hers.

"They're actually kinda pretty." Wendy said. "Thanks mom." She hugged Grandeeney.

"Thank you, Grandeeney." Lucy smiled kindly.

"You see, Natsu? Even your girlfriend has more appreciation than you." Igneel said. Zeref smirked as if he was not in trouble. Igneel turned to Zeref. "The same goes for you." Igneel stated. Zeref rolled his eyes. In the afternoon, Grandeeney and Wendy taught Lucy how to bake snickerdoodle cookies. Lucy tried to pour the flour into cups but accidently spilled some.

"Sorry…" Lucy went to get a towel.

"It's ok, sweetheart." Grandeeney replied and helped her clean up the mess.

"I screwed up a lot of times when I did this the first time." Wendy stated. "And once Natsu actually almost set the kitchen on fire."

"Hey! I was young and hungry and the cookies took forever to bake!" Natsu retorted.

"That's why you _preheat_ the oven." Grandeeney replied. Natsu blew a raspberry and rolled his eyes.

"Ooh, this gingerbread cookie cutter's cute." Lucy giggled.

"I think I'll use the star one." Wendy said smilingly.

"I guess I'm stuck with the cloud." Grandeeney said, pretending to be upset which made Lucy and Wendy laugh. Natsu and Zeref played Wii Sports as the ladies baked cookies. They played boxing.

"Take that, sucker!" Natsu yelled and swung his remote back and forth.

"Oh yeah! Beat this!" Zeref's Mii character gave Natsu's one sucker punch to the face.

"No! Get up you little armless freak!" Natsu screamed at the Mii. It got up warily. "In your face, Zeref" Natsu and Zeref continued to fight each others.

"Boys, could you keep it down? The neighbors could complain about this again." Igneel said sternly. Natsu defeated Zeref with one big sucker punch. He jumped onto the couch.

"YEAH! I AM THE KING!" Natsu screamed. Happy the cat jumped on the couch at Natsu feet. Natsu picked him up and held him in front of his face. "I'm the boss right pal?" Happy seemed to smile. Natsu jumped down from the couch and ran around screaming.

"Shut up, Natsu. You're starting to look like you're doing a scene from The Lion King." Zeref huffed, obviously disappointed by his defeat. Lucy looked and Natsu and giggled. He looked so immature, running around like a hyperactive version Rafiki. Wendy giggled and took this as an opportunity and attempted to sing The Circle of Life.

"NAAAAAAA ZI PE NYAAAAAAAAAAA MA BI CHI BABAAAAAAAAAAA!" Wendy grabbed Carla and chased Natsu around the room. Natsu stood on the couch on one knee.

"HE'S A THREAT TO OUR LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!" Natsu held Happy in the air. "HE COULD EAT US AAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL! HE IS ON DISSSPLAYYYYYYYY! TO REMIND US WE'RE PREEYYYYYYYYY!" Natsu sang-screamed his heart out. Happy looked completely unamused. Lucy giggled at the sight of them. Zeref slow-clapped.

"Very nice, Natsu. Very, very nice." Zeref said sarcastically. Natsu jumped down, laughing maniacally.

"I am the king!" He yelled. Igneel slapped his forehead and sighed. The oven pinged for the cookies were ready. Grandeeney, Lucy and Wendy went into the kitchen. When Grandeeney took the tray out, the cookies smelled delicious.

"Oh my god they smell so good I could just melt." Wendy inhaled the sweet smell of snickerdoodle.

"Well, don't. Because we're gonna need help eating all these." Grandeeney joked. Wendy looked at Lucy who was fiddling with her cannula.

"Can you smell it?" Wendy asked.

"Only…a little bit." She held up her fingers to emphasize 'little bit'. They put the cookies on a plate and brought them to the living room. Natsu noticed the smell and ran to Grandeeney and tried to stuff his face.

"Uh uh, share." She said sternly. Natsu growled.

"Ooh, let's watch a movie." Wendy suggested.

"Good idea." Igneel ruffled her hair. Every year, the Dragneel family would watch a movie on Christmas. This year they watched _Elf_ while eating cookies. Elf was about a human raised by Santa and a bunch of elves. One day, he decides to go find his real family outside the North Pole, but he doesn't fit it. Natsu ate most of the cookies. Just as he was about to stuff another into his stuffed face, Lucy grabbed the cookie from his hand and took a chunk out of it.

"Hey, what was that for!" Natsu whisper-shouted.

"You took most of the cookies and we worked hard for it." Lucy shot back. Natsu pouted and tried to grab the cookie from Lucy's mouth with his teeth. Lucy turned her face away. Natsu continued to attempt to grab the cookie like a dog trying to get a Frisbee that just won't come. The couple started acting two little puppies and puppy love-ing.

"Stop it, you two. We're trying to watch a movie." Zeref grunted. Natsu and Lucy sat still for a moment. In one swift move, Natsu bit the cookie out of Lucy's mouth. Lucy pouted for a minute, then went back to watching _Elf_. Lucy snuggled up to Natsu and he kissed her head. He noticed that his parents left. He wondered why. The four kids found out after the movie was over. Zeref turned off the TV and they all turned around to go outside, but found Igneel and Grandeeney kissing under mistletoe. Lucy and Wendy giggled while Natsu blushed and Zeref started tearing up.

"Hey, you left Mavis, not the other way around." Natsu elbowed poor Zeref. Igneel and Grandeeney broke off their kiss. Lucy and Wendy clapped while Natsu and Zeref slow-clapped and rolled their eyes.

"That was adorable." Lucy giggled while Igneel bowed down.

"It's your turn now, Natsu and Lucy." Wendy dragged Lucy under the mistletoe and ran to help Zeref push Natsu to Lucy. They stood in front of each other.

"You ready, Lucy?" Natsu asked.

"Whatever." Lucy planted a small kiss on Natsu's lips. Igneel, Grandeeney and Wendy clapped. Zeref stayed silent and watched Happy and Carla frolicking on the carpet.

 ***TIME SKIP***

"Ok, kids, dinner's ready!" Grandeeney called from the dining room. Zeref and Wendy rushed down for the delicious food while Natsu helped Lucy carry her wheelie bag.

"You didn't have to, you know." Lucy stated.

"I know, but I wanted to." Natsu smiled. They reached the bottom of the stairs and noticed everyone was already seated. Igneel and Grandeeney sat at the ends of the table and Zeref and Wendy sat on one side, leaving two seats for them. They sat in their seats, the table was filled with delicious food.

"Turkey? But I thought turkey was for Thanksgiving." Lucy said.

"You can use it on Christmas if you want." Zeref stated. They dug in, everything was heavenly.

"Your cooking was good but this is just _amazing_!" Lucy complimented Grandeeney.

"Thank you, dear." Grandeeney smiled.

"I agree, I could _marry_ the food." Wendy stuffed some chicken into her mouth. Igneel tapped his glass of cava's.

"I would like to make a toast." Igneel stood up with his glass in the air. "I'd like to thank all my children and my lovely wife for making this a fantastic year. And bless Lucy, our new family member. Cheers."

"Cheers!" They clapped their glasses with smiled on their faces.

 _Best Christmas I've ever had._ Lucy thought with a smile.

* * *

 **Merry Christmas Eve, my friends! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday. I finished this chapter one day early so I didn't want to keep you waiting too long :D My next chapter will be uploaded on New Year's day as a new year special :D**


	14. New Year

"New Year's Carnival?" Natsu raised an eyebrow. Natsu and Lucy sat on Natsu's bed and were face-timing with their other friends Gray, Juvia, Erza, Jellal, Gajeel and Levy.

"Yeah, it's at the harbour at Hargeon." Levy replied.

"Sounds awesome." Lucy said.

"Juvia is so excited to go to the New Year's Carnival with Gray-sama!" Juvia gushed. Gray chuckled.

"I heard that the theme this year is Japanese." Erza stated.

"That means we have to wear kimonos right?" Gajeel rolled his eyes.

"It's actually not that bad." Jellal said to Gajeel.

"I must agree, they are simply adorable." Erza gushed in an un-Erza-like fashion. The others all gaped at her. "Is there a problem?" Erza said in her scary stern way.

"No, ma'am." Natsu said, shivering. Lucy giggled and punched him playfully.

"Do we have to buy the kimonos or what?" Lucy asked.

"I think we buy it at the festival. I'm pretty sure they also come with a pair of geta." Levy replied.

"It seems pretty exciting." Lucy giggled.

"Anyway, I got tickets for the eight of us. I'm so stoked!" Levy grinned.

"Thanks, Levy. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you there." Erza stated.

"By the way, should we invite our parents?" Jellal asked.

"Think we should." Gajeel replied. "Then you guys get tickets for them."

"Ok, bye." The others turned Face-Time off.

"I'm stoked." Lucy high-fived Natsu.

 **Weeks later**

The Dragneels and Lucy arrived at the Hargeon New Year's festival. There were all these stands with different Japanese themed foods, souvenirs, rides and kimonos. Lucy and Wendy ran to the kimonos.

"I love this one." Wendy pulled out a light pink thigh-length sleeveless with a no sleeves and blue sakura prints.

"I think it's adorable on you." Lucy gushed. She pulled out a long pink kimono that bared her all her shoulders with lavish gold patterns of sakuras and a large split on the left side.

"That dress is so pretty." Wendy stated. They both tried their kimonos on. Lucy had to take her cannula out first before she put on her kimono. Then she tried on her geta. Natsu, Zeref and their parents caught up with Lucy and Wendy just as they left the changing rooms in their kimonos. Wendy had a pair of long black socks with her kimono and geta. Lucy stood shyly in her kimono with her wheelie bag behind her.

"Y-y-you look be-be-beautiful, Lucy." Natsu stuttered in amazement.

"Thanks." Lucy blushed.

"You boys better choose a kimono too, we are too." Grandeeney said. Natsu scowled and join Lucy to find a kimono.

"Hey, how about this one?" Lucy pulled out a blue one.

"Eh, doesn't look good with my hair." Natsu ran his fingers through his pink spiky hair. Lucy put the blue one back.

"Then how about the green one?" Lucy pulled out a green kimono.

"Eh, not really." Natsu replied.

"What about the red one?" Lucy pulled out a red kimono. Natsu looked at it. It had gold sakura prints on it.

"It looks nice, actually." Natsu grabbed it and took off to the changing rooms. Lucy waited outside, he took a surprisingly long time to change into a kimono.

"Hurry up! We're gonna miss the freaking festival!" Lucy moaned.

"This goddamn thing, can you help me?!" Natsu groaned. Lucy opened the curtain a little bit and stepped in, Natsu was completely tangled up in his kimono.

"My god, It's worse than me getting dressed in the morning with my cannula on at all times!" Lucy rolled her eyes. "Here, let me help you." Lucy took the kimono off him and turned it the right side up. Then she helped him put his arms in the sleeves and zipped up. He put his foot in the geta and he and Lucy exited the dressing room. Zeref, Igneel and Grandeeney were in their kimonos already. Zeref wore a plain black kimono, Igneel wore a kimono that matched Natsu's in colour and Grandeeney wore a white kimono with light pink sakura prints.

"You kids are allowed to explore the place. When it's time to go, we'll give you a call. Alright?" Igneel said.

"Ok, dad." They said and wandered off. Wendy joined her other friends and Romeo, Zeref wandered off alone, Igneel and Grandeeney decided to explore the souvenir section while Natsu and Lucy met up with their other friends. They already bought they kimonos and Gajeel was sucking on a caramel apple.

"Salamander, yer finally here." Gajeel said impatiently.

"Took you long enough." Gray said angrily.

"So-rry." Natsu rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, Lu. We should go find some souvenirs and some food. Everything seems so good here." Levy grabbed Lucy's hands.

"Count me in too!" Natsu shouted with a big grin. The group wandered over to the fair where there were tones of rides and fun things to do. They came across a mini outdoor arcade filled with video games.

"VIDEO GAMES!" Natsu jumped into a race car one and shoved a coin into the slot.

"Oh no you don't." Gray jumped into the one next him.

"Yer going down, Salamander!" Gajeel grinned evilly and joined them.

"Looks like they got themselves in a race." Lucy giggled.

"Gray-sama is so good! Go Gray-sama!" Juvia stood behind Gray's chair and cheered. The rest wandered around the festival.

"A dunking machine?" Erza looked over at a little boy who threw a ball at the target, making the teenage girl in the tank fall into the water.

"Please no, Erza." Jellal slapped his forehead. Erza walked over payed the organizer a few jewels.

"6 throws." The lady said.

"Just so we know, the water's warm right?" Levy asked.

"Of course, it's basically winter but it's not too cold today luckily." The lady grinned. Erza approached the target. She held the ball back as if she were throwing a baseball. She glared at the target with suspense and tension. She chucked the ball right at the target so hard it made a large banging sound. The boy in the tank was so frightened he forgot to hold his breath and emerged from the water coughing.

"Erza! You hurt the poor thing!" Levy said, shocked.

"He's just bluffing." Erza flipped her scarlet hair.

"I feel so sorry for those people." Lucy slapped her forehead while Erza continued to drown the 5 other people.

"Done." Erza smirked. The six victims shook themselves dry glared at her.

"Erza, we should leave." Jellal put his arm around her and dragged her away, with Levy and Lucy tagging along. Lucy looked at a stand that caramelized apples. The four of them sat down.

"How much to caramelize an apple?" Lucy asked the man at the stand.

"2 jewels." He replied. Lucy, Jellal and Erza have him 2 jewels and began to caramelize their apple. Levy gave the man 4 jewels and started to caramelize too.

"Hey Levy, how was Mt. Hakobe?" Lucy asked.

"It was awesome! And really funny too." Levy started to giggle. "Droy couldn't ski well, so he tried to look cool but ended up colliding with Jet and Gajeel. You should've been there to see it!" Levy laughed so hard she had to stop caramelizing her apple to calm herself down. Lucy giggled.

"Anyway, how about you guys?" She asked Jellal and Erza.

"We actually went to Crocus for a while. There were so many flowers." Erza replied.

"We also went to Mrs. Fullbuster's home for Christmas dinner." Jellal stated.

"The strawberry cake dessert they had was absolutely delightful." Erza started to drool as if she were in cake heaven. Lucy giggled at the sight of her. This was so un-Erza-like. Erza noticed her giggling. "Is there something you want to tell me?" She asked sternly, which sent shivers down Lucy's back.

"N-n-n-n-n-no m-m-ma'am." Lucy's teeth chattered and she went back to caramelizing an apple.

"How about you, Lu?" Levy asked.

"We didn't do much, but on Christmas day we had so much fun. We made cookies and watched a movie, then Natsu and I kissed under the mistletoe." Lucy started to blush as Levy and Erza started to go 'aww'.

"Aren't you gonna make another one for Natsu?" Levy asked and pointed to the apple.

"We're sharing one. I can't exactly finish mine so I'll just give it to him." Lucy replied. After the hot caramel cooled down, Natsu, Gajeel, Gray and Juvia found them.

"Hey Lucy." Natsu grinned at her.

"Hi Natsu." She took a small bite out her apple and gave it to Natsu, who munched on it immediately.

"Gray-sama won that race!" Juvia said cheerfully.

"Nuh-uh, _I_ did!" Gajeel shot back.

"That win was totally _mine_!" Natsu shouted with a caramelized apple in his mouth. Lucy giggled at them arguing.

"Well now that _that's_ over, let's go check out some souvenirs." Lucy suggested.

"Great idea!" Levy said cheerfully.

"Let's go then, shrimp." Gajeel picked her up and carried her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Put me down, Gajeel!" Levy shouted. They arrived at a ride that looked like a boat with dragon heads on the sides.

"Twin Dragons…" Erza read the sign.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go ride it!" Natsu finished his apple and chucked the stick into the garbage can. They sat at the very ends of the boat.

"Uh, are you sure this is a good idea?" Lucy asked as they put their seatbelts on.

"Don't worry! I used to have motion sickness but I got over that!" Natsu grinned at her.

"That was not what I was talking about!" Lucy said worriedly as the boat began to move. The ride was basically a boat that rocked back and forth higher and faster with each swing. Lucy held onto Natsu and screamed as the boat rocked. It felt like a roller-coaster. Natsu held up his hands and screamed wildly. When they got off, Lucy's legs were wobbling and she started to wheeze.

"Maybe we shouldn't have let you go on that ride." Natsu said, worriedly.

"No, no, it's fine. Just a little shock." Lucy got her breath back and they continued to wander around the festival.

"Hey, Lu! Look at these hair pins!" Levy dragged Lucy over to a stand with lot's of lavish exquisite hair pins with sakuras, peacocks and other things.

"My, they _are_ exquisite." Erza looked at them.

"Juvia thinks they're so beautiful!" Juvia gushed.

"Would you like one?" The lady at the stand asked.

"Of course! How much?" Lucy asked.

"95 jewels. However, they are made of gems." The lady replied.

"Gladly." Erza chose a hair pin with a blue gemstone and gave the lady 95 jewels.

"Juvia choses this one." Juvia picked out a light blue hair pink with water-drop-like decorations.

"I think I'll go with this one." Levy chose a gold hair pin with sakuras on them.

"I like this one." Lucy chose a pink one with a gold phoenix and chains on the ends.

"That is so pretty." Levy gushed.

"Juvia should have picked that one…if it were blue." Juvia said. They payed the lady, put the hair pins in their hair and went to find the boys.

"Shrimp! Nice hair pin." Gajeel said.

"Thanks." Levy grinned.

"How do you like mine?" Lucy asked Natsu.

"Average." Natsu said. Lucy pouted at him. "I'm only joking!" Natsu put his hands up like a prisoner. Lucy giggled.

"Let's go, Natsu." She took his hand and they wandered through the fair. Natsu spotted Wendy holding hands with Romeo and looking at him in the eye. He poked Lucy and pointed to them. Lucy giggled.

"Looks like one of them confessed to the other." Lucy said smugly. They arrived at a large tent where the inside was like any typical restaurant; tables, waiters, a kitchen and an ice cream bar.

"FOOD!" Natsu screamed. They got a table for 8. Natsu couldn't decide what to order, so he order almost everything on the menu.

"Natsu! You'll get fat eating all of that!" Lucy said.

"Eh, I don't give a crap. I'm gonna eat this whole place if I have to!" Natsu laughed maniacally. After they ordered their food, the waiter put down an hourglass and put a hand to his heart.

"By the name of this restaurant, I swear that in 30 minutes we will deliver all your food to your table. If we don't we'll give you free caramel apples depending on how many minutes late. One minute, one apple. " He turned the hourglass and left to the kitchen as fast as he could.

"He'll have a tough time keeping _this_ promise." Gajeel grinned.

"I must agree." Erza chuckled.

"Seriously, Natsu. How many sushi's did you order?" Gray slapped his forehead.

"Like you're one to talk, Gray." Lucy said.

"Back off, Gray-sama is always amazing." Juvia glared at Lucy, who threw her hands up in surrender. While waiting for the food, they started to talk about what to do next.

"It's getting pretty close to midnight." Levy stated.

"I think there are boats at the port we can use." Jellal said.

"And put those lotus things with candles on them in the river." Erza stated cheerfully.

"It seems fun but I need my food now." Natsu said with utter boredom.

"Aw come on, they agreed that they would try to get all your sushi's here in 30 minutes." Lucy patted his shoulder.

"What else should we do?" Gray asked.

"Juvia thinks we should go find some cute dolls for Gray-sama." Juvia gushed. Gray rolled his eyes with a smile. It was 33 minutes, everybody else's food have already arrived, but only 7 of Natsu's sushi's have arrived. They turned around to see the waiter carrying 17 plates of sushi of different fillings for Natsu and he was holding 3 caramel apples in his other hand. He thumped them down in front of Natsu, exhausted.

"I wonder how you're able to stay fit, kiddo." The waiter panted. "I need a new job." He said as he walked back to the kitchen.

"My food is finally here!" He screamed as he gobbled up all his sushi like a fat pig. Lucy giggled and rolled her eyes as she gently nibbled on her avocado sushi. The others glared at him as if a warthog just crashed the festival. Natsu ate all of his sushi in one big gulp and was now sucking on his caramel apple. They paid and left the restaurant.

"How can you still eat that apple after you ate all those sushi's?" Lucy said with utter shock.

"Eh, it's no big deal." Natsu said. It was 11:55 and they went down to the docks to get boats. One for Natsu and Lucy, one for Gray and Juvia, one for Jellal and Erza and the last for Gajeel and Levy. As they parted from the docks, they were astounded to see tons of fake lotuses with candles in them on the river. It looked like a dream river. Lucy leaned over the boat and poked on of them. It floated away like it was flying away. Lucy looked towards Natsu to see him holding two fake lotus flowers with lit candles. Lucy giggled.

"Thank you." She said with a blush on her cheeks. Together, they gently placed the two lotus flowers into the water and let them float way into the sea of lotus flowers.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Natsu put his cheek on the side of the boat and held Lucy's hand.

"It is." She said and looked at him. The river was glowing like a million golden stars. They looked at the clock, it was 11:59 and the people were starting to count down.

"20, 19, 18, 17,16,15…"They chanted. Natsu and Lucy decided to join in.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Beautiful rainbow fireworks filled up the sky as Natsu gently placed his lips on Lucy's.

"Happy new year." He whispered with a smile.

"Happy new year." She whispered back.

 **Happy 2017, my friends. Hope this year is better than the last :D How did you spend your new year's eve and new year's day?**


	15. Student Exchange Program

After the winter break, everyone was so not stoked to go back to school.

"Come on, Natsu. You have to go back to that hellhole _sometime_." Lucy poked Natsu awake as he lay half-naked in his bed. Lucy was already fully dressed and ready to go.

"Please, Lucy. Give me 5 more minutes." He whined and pulled the covers over his head. Lucy rolled her eyes, then smirked evilly.

"If you don't get your lazy ass out of bed, I'll eat your waffles and feed the rest to Plue." Lucy stated.

"Alright, I'm up." Natsu instantly got out of bed and walked down to the breakfast table.

"Well get changed first!" Lucy whisper-shouted.

"Right." Natsu turned back around, grabbed his clothes and closed the bathroom door. Lucy giggled and waiting downstairs with her schoolbag on her one shoulder and her wheelie bag by her feet. Plue jumped at her feet and clawed at her long socks.

"No, Plue! You're getting them ruined!" She looked at her socks and sighed. "I'm gonna have to cut your nails when I get back." She patted his head. Natsu, after eating his waffles and changed, was ready to leave.

"Time to go." He said. He opened the door and they left for Fairy Tail Academy.

"It's much warmer today than it was before, don't you think?" Lucy asked as she loosened her scarf a little bit.

"Agreed." Natsu said. They arrived at the school, but things seem to be more lively than usual. And there were more crowds than usual so they had trouble getting to their lockers. When they got to homeroom, they asked their friends.

"Hey Levy. Have you noticed that the halls here are more noisier than usual?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, it's the Semester 2 Student Exchange Program." Levy replied.

"Really? That sounds cool." Lucy said with a smile. Mr. Conbolt stood at the front of the class.

"Class has begun. Settle down, settle down." The students turned to face him. He cleared his throat. "As all you people here, you all know the Semester 2 Student Exchange Program is here. For you newbies, you may not know this. The Student Exchange Program is where kids from other schools come to Fairy Tail Academy for some time and some students from Fairy Tail Academy go to other schools. This is all for education purposes and learning how to cooperate with your peers. Anyway, the school we will be associating with is Saber Tooth Academy."

"Saber Tooth?!" The entire class shouted.

"Those punks…" Gajeel tightened his fists.

"At least you won the finals." Levy patted his back.

"Juvia will never let those other bimbos take away Gray-sama!" Juvia growled.

"Those bastards…" Natsu looked like he was about to explode.

"Now calm down, kids. You are going to have to learn to cooperate do you understand?" Mr. Conbolt said sternly.

"Yes sir." They mumbled. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Looks like they're here. Come in." He said. A few students, looking timid and intimidating at the same time, came in. "Would you like to introduce yourselves?" Mr. Conbolt asked. A blondie stepped up front. Natsu recognized him, it was Sting. His clothes were messy and his tie was untied.

"I'm Sting Eucliffe, I'm from Saber Tooth Academy and that's all I want to say." He said cockily. He glanced at Lucy but quickly turned away. A dark-looking boy with his black hair tied in a ponytail stepped forward. He had a choker with a skull attached to it.

"I'm Rogue Cheney." He looked around. "Not interested." He said and stepped back. A shy looking girl with a bob blueish white hair stepped forward.

"My name is Yukino Agria and I'm seventeen years old." She turned away shyly. A boy with long blond hair who wore a mask stepped forward.

"I am Rufus Lore. Everything needs to be memorized." He looked around the room and stared at Lucy. A taller buffer boy with green hair and a large bandanna dragged him away and stepped forward.

"The name's Orga Nanagear. I rap like Eminem and Nicki Minaj." He gave a rock sign and stepped back. Everyone snickering at his comments about himself. Lastly was a sly looking girl with long black hair and lot's of makeup.

"I am Minerva Orland." She said and stepped back.

"Alright then. Take your seats at the back of the classroom." Mr. Conbolt pointed to the few empty desks at the back of the room. They made their way over. Rufus muttered something to Sting who immediately elbowed him in the ribs. Natsu put his arm around Lucy as if to give out the signal 'she's mine'. At lunch, the Saber Tooth member approached Natsu and his friends at their table.

"What do you want?" Natsu asked viciously.

"I have a proposition." Sting held out his hand and smiled kindly. "Can we put all that game stuff behind us and just be friends?" He asked. Natsu, Gray, Gajeel and Jellal exchanged glances. Natsu looked at the girls who shrugged their shoulders. Natsu sighed and took Sting's hand.

"Sure then." Natsu grinned and they shook hands. Rufus stared at Lucy with a weird smile. Lucy noticed this.

"Creep!" She muttered and hid her face. Rogue started to talk to Gajeel.

"I've actually admired you for a while." He said.

"Have you now?" Gajeel chuckled and slapped his back hard as if he were coughing up something and he needed help.

"We'll have a competition over who should be real student council president." Minerva glared at Erza playfully.

"Alright." Erza glared back. The Saber Tooth students all started to get along well with the Fairy Tail students. After the bell rang for the end of lunch, Sting grabbed Lucy's arm just as she was heading to class.

"What do you want?" Lucy glared at him.

"Do you by any chance know a woman named Layla?" He asked.

"Yeah, she's my mother." Lucy replied, then looked at him suspiciously. "Why, do you know her?"

"Of course, she's my mom." He replied. "Your dad should've sent you a letter about that." Lucy raised an eyebrow

"This this some kind of sick joke? If it is, it's obviously in very poor taste." Lucy glared at Sting and yanked her arm out of his grip. Rufus was staring at them from behind a pillar.

"This Lucy girl is so beautiful." He gushed to himself. He followed her to her next class and saw her with Natsu. He clenched his fists. "I must do something about this Natsu boy." He growled and wandered off to his next class. Lucy couldn't stop thinking about what Sting said to her. Layla was his mother too? That couldn't be possible. If it were she would have been informed about it. On the way home, Natsu noticed her sulking about.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing it's just…Sting said something weird." She replied with a sigh.

"What did he say? Does it deserve a beat down?" Natsu cracked his knuckles.

"Not really, unless it's a lie." Lucy said. "He said something about him having the same mom as me and that I should've known about this because my dad sent a letter about it."

"That's…weird. Really weird. 'Cause the last time you got a letter from your dad was when…that happened." Natsu looked uneasy.

"I know, I know." Lucy sighed. When they got home, there was a mailman standing outside their door. Natsu and Lucy exchanged glances and walked over to him.

"What do you want?" Natsu asked.

"Excuse me, do you by any chance know a young lady named Lucy Heartfilia?" The mailman asked.

"That's me." Lucy said.

"This is a letter from your father. I'm sorry but your father delivered this a few years ago insisted to give it to you a few weeks ago but it got lost in the mail." He handed Lucy a white envelope with her current address on it. Lucy blinked twice and looked back at the mailman.

"Thank you, sir." She said. As the mailman parted, Natsu and Lucy entered the house and Lucy opened the letter. Inside was a picture of her mother with a man with white hair and a young boy with blonde hair and a small scar intersecting his left eyebrow. She recognized the boy, it was Sting. She read the letter.

 _"Dear Lucy_

 _I always knew that I would perish before you were mature enough to leave home and start your own life. That is why I am writing this so you know who to go to when that day comes._

 _This is Sting Eucliffe, your half brother. Your mother divorced his father and married me. At first, he was supposed to be left in the custody of your mother but when she had you and Erik and died, he went back to his own father._

 _I'm sorry I have to leave you in their hands, but I have to say that Erik is disappeared and missing. If I knew his whereabouts I would have left you with him instead._

 _Love from Father."_

Lucy fiddled with her cannula. Her family history was starting to get a little complicated. She looked back at the picture. Could this really be her mom? Natsu looked at her.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Apparently…Eucliffe…is my half brother." Lucy scratched the back of her head. Natsu looked at her with shock.

"Your family history is…"

"Yeah, complicated." Lucy said. Then she pointed at Natsu. "Get out your algebra homework, it's time to start your tutoring."

"NOOOOOOO!" Natsu whined and rolled on the floor like a baby. Lucy sighed.

"At least no one else is here to see him like this." Lucy giggled. Igneel and Grandeeney were at work, Wendy was at her flute lesson and Zeref moved back to the university.

"Please, merciful goddess Lucy. Don't make me do algebra homework." Natsu kneeled down in front of her as if she were some Chinese empress.

"You're gonna do your homework and you're gonna do it now." Lucy said sternly, but couldn't help herself from laughing. A blond man with long hair hid behind the window peering in.

"That pink haired bastard." He clenched his fists. "I don't recall any way to make a beautiful young lady fall for me." He stroked his chin and headed home.

* * *

"Lucy! Lucy!" A familiar voice yelled to Natsu and Lucy as they were heading to their next class. They turned around to see who it was.

"Sting!" Natsu high-fived him. Sting grinned at him, then turned back to Lucy.

"I know, I know. You're mom is my mom and you were supposed to be in her hands but then she died." Lucy said.

"Yeah, that's all I had to say." Sting said. "By the way, where have you been living for the past few months? Your dad wrote in a letter that you'd be coming."

"Well, his letter to me got lost in the mail so I've been living with Natsu." Lucy replied.

"I see." Sting nodded his head. "Anyway, sorry about everything that happened during the games. I only found out about you after your dad sent his death letter."

"It's really ok." Lucy smiled.

"I'll see you later Natsu."

"Kay, bro." He grinned at Sting as he left. Natsu sat at the back of algebra class while Lucy sat in the front as usual. He couldn't help but notice one of the exchange students staring at his girlfriend. He just rolled his eyes and shrugged it off.

"Alright kids, it's time to take out your homework." Mr. Wakaba said. They got their homework folders out and corrected their homework. Natsu gave himself a tiny grin. Thanks to Lucy, he got 50% of the questions correct. "Let's begin today's lecture." Mr. Wakaba said and started to write on the whiteboard. As usual, Natsu was about to fall fast asleep. Lucy was beginning to look a little bored too, but she kept her composure. When the bell finally rang for lunch, Natsu got his lunch money and walked Lucy to her locker.

"I actually never been that bored in algebra class before. What's happening now?" Lucy slapped her forehead as a note fell out of her locker. It was a pink postcard with roses on it. Lucy read it with disgust.

 _"From an admirer, not Natsu._ " It said.

"Who else is after my Lucy." Natsu growled.

"I'm actually getting kinda freaked out." Lucy said, shivering.

* * *

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUNNN! I bet you're wondering what's happening next, eh friends? Lol hahaha. If you don't know who the admirer is you can ask me. I'm not too sure if I made it clear in enough but I'm pretty sure you know who he is. Please review, my friends and I'll try my best for my next chapter tol be uploaded in one week :D


	16. Admirer Alert

Lucy couldn't eat her lunch properly. An admirer? Other than Natsu? She was starting to get freaked out. Natsu noticed her worried face.

"It's ok." He said with his arm around her. "I will protect you."

"I know that." Lucy giggled. The Saber Tooth kids came with their trays and sat down at their table. "Hi Sting." Lucy waved.

"Hey Lucy." Sting replied.

"Hi Rogue." Gajeel grinned menacingly. Rogue quickly smiled back and went to his texts. Sting looked over at his phone.

"Texting your girlfriend again?" Sting laughed evilly. Yukino, Orga and Minerva joined in while Rogue went from pale to beet red.

"She's…she's not my girlfriend!" Rogue shouted while blushing.

"Yeah right! You've known each other since you were kids and now you're pretty much inseparable!" Sting punched his arm.

"Ooh, who's the lucky girl?" Levy joined in.

"She will never steal Gray-sama!" Juvia grabbed Gray's arm. Rogue sighed.

"Well, her name's Tyla and that's all I want to say." Rogue stated and put his phone back in his pocket. **[A/N I just liked to add an OC from my other story]** **.** Rogue fumbled threw his backpack and showed them a picture of a little girl with short pink hair, a purple bandanna and an innocent smile.

"The _other_ one, Rogue." Sting glared at him. Rogue rolled his eyes and turned the picture.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. They're the same girl?" Gray gaped. This one showed a girl with a large cleavage, long pink hair tied in a ponytail and a grin that gave you chills down your spine.

"Yes they are." Rogue sighed and put the picture back in his pocket.

"By the way, has anyone seen Rufus?" Yukino asked.

"Now that you mention it, where the hell is he?" Sting looked around.

"Very interesting. He'd usually show up on time." Minerva stated.

"Eh, probably just doing some extra studying." Orga shrugged his shoulders and stuffed curry bread into his mouth. He was wrong, Rufus was sitting behind a wall staring at Lucy talking and laughing with Natsu.

"Lu-Lu is mine." He growled. After lunch, Rufus approached her.

"Hi Rufus. Where were you? Your friends were starting to worry." Lucy said.

"Have we met? I would surely remember someone this beautiful." Rufus smirked.

"Oh, uh, well…that's nice…" Lucy backed away with uncomfortableness as he adjusted the pretentious feather hat and walked off with a smirk. He looked back at her.

"Natsu is too lucky to have a girl like you." He said and walked off. Lucy felt uncomfortable as she walked to her locker. Rufus was such a weird guy and obviously had a huge crush on her. Natsu noticed her walking solemnly to the library.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Rufus has a crush on me." Lucy replied. Natsu pointed to his mouth and pretended to vomit. "I know, I know, it's disgusting."

"You don't say, Lucy." Natsu held her hand. He looked at her schedule. "Science next?"

"Yep, I'm gonna need some _good_ protection from Levy and Erza." Lucy replied and grabbed her books.

"I will always be there to save you too!" Natsu did a Usain Bolt pose. Lucy giggled. They kissed each other on the cheek and went to classes. Lucy sat next to Cana, who was drinking from her water bottle. It never had water in it, just booze.

"Cana! Stop drinking, you'll get drunk in class!" Lucy whisper-shouted.

"You know I have high-alcohol tolerance." Cana grinned at Lucy, who rolled her eyes. "Oh and did you know, I just got myself a new boyfriend!"

"Really? And may I ask who the lucky guy is?" Lucy giggled.

"Bacchus Groh from Quattro Cerberus Academy. Met him at the bar few weeks ago. We're officially dating now." Cana grinned widely.

"That's great." Lucy smiled.

"That _is_ great." A voice from behind Lucy.

"Eh? Who asked _you_ to join in our conversation, Lucas?" Cana groaned.

"Ahem, it's Rufus, thank you very much." Rufus said with annoyance.

"Meh, what's the difference?" Cana laughed. Lucy rolled her eyes and smiled. Cana was just about as rude and reckless as ever. Rufus cleared his throat and looked at Lucy.

"Anyway, how did you do on your homework last night?" Rufus asked her. Cana's eyes gaped.

"Ah shit, the homework! Aw, Ms. Porlyusica will do me in this time! Waaahh!" Cana thumped her head on the desk. Ms. Porlyusica, the nurse, was also the science teacher.

"Cana, you poor thing." Lucy gently patted her back.

"How about you, Ms. Lu-Lu?" Rufus looked at Lucy with a smile. Lucy smiled back weakly.

"Well, I was ok. I mean, I learned about _mitosis_ and _meiosis_ in middle school." Lucy tucked her hair behind her ear and adjusted her cannula.

"Well, that's nice. Which middle school did you go to?" Rufus asked.

"Uh, it was an all girls school." Lucy said nervously. Ms. Porlyusica entered the room and smacked her books on her desk.

"Alright, class. Get out your homework's. I want to see everyone completed it." Ms. Porlyusica snapped. Rufus went to his seat at the desk next to Cana and lucy's. Cana panicked. Ms. Porlyusica noticed this and decided to challenge her.

"Ms. Alberona, I believe what I said was 'get out your homework'." Ms. Porlyusica glared at her and slammed her palm down on Cana and Lucy's desk. Cana fidgeted her fingers and started to drink from her water bottle.

"WhatifItoldyouIforgottodomyhomework?" Cana mumbled with the water bottle in her mouth. Ms. Porlyusica rolled her eyes and wrote in her notepad.

"No homework, again?" She sighed.

"But, like, chemistry is so hard, especially if it's not between a boy and a girl." Cana stated, which made the other students snicker. Ms. Porlyusica growled.

"You're staying after class today, Ms. Alberona." Ms. Porlyusica marched back to her desk.

"Huh? Why?" Cana groaned.

"You need to make up for that homework." Ms. Porlyusica replied. Cana thumped her head on the desk and Lucy patted her back. "Alright class, all eyes on the screen as we will be correcting our homework."

Rufus raised his hand. "Ms. Porlyusica. Your grammar, as I recall, isn't correct. You see, you said 'we would be correcting our homework' but you never did homework as you are the teacher. And 'we' means yourself and another person or group of people so it really should be ' _you_ will be correcting _your_ homework', ma'am." Ms. Porlyusica stared at him with a dumbfounded look.

"Do you always pick on your teachers at Saber Tooth Academy?" Ms. Porlyusica accused.

"No, there are no issues to pick out." Rufus stated, which made the other students snicker. The pink-haired teacher sighed and looked at her watch.

"We've wasted our precious class time due to your rant." Ms. Porlyusica accused.

"Well we wouldn't have if you would have let Lana go instead of making her stay and redo her homework. And also this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't made the grammar mistake because clearly, it's us not 'we'." Rufus stated matter-of-factly.

"Hey! The name's Cana, you big jerk!" Cana screamed at the blond-haired man.

"Now can we please just start class already!" Ms. Porlyusica blew up.

"Of course we can. But it is you who is holding us back, you chose to hold the class back to listen to my statements." Rufus smirked at her. Ms. Porlyusica took a deep breath and began to write on the blackboard. Rufus smirked at Lucy as if to say 'wasn't I amazing?'. Lucy turned her head to looked at him, then turned back to the blackboard with her hand on her forehead

"Can you believe it? He was all like, 'Lucy, I'm so A-MAY-ZING just 'cause I can pick out freaking grammar mistakes and manipulate the teacher's feelings!'." Lucy ranted to Natsu on the way home. "Seriously, Natsu. I'm getting really freaked out about his feelings towards me."

"If I were you, I would be too. I mean, if he had to murder to get your attention he would do that. And his first target would be me." Natsu bared his fists at the air. "I'm too young to DIIIIEEEEEE!" He shouted. Lucy sweat-dropped and giggled.

"But seriously though, you are too young." Lucy giggled. Natsu ran his fingers through his hair with a grin. Suddenly, they saw who they knew standing right in the middle of the path, as if he were waiting for someone. He turned around and smiled at Lucy.

"Ah, it's you, Lu-Lu!" He smiled.

"Uh, I prefer Lucy." Lucy said uncomfortably.

"What the hell are you doing here, _Rufus_?!" Natsu said viciously.

"Now, now, there's no need to be rude. It was just such a nice day today I thought I'd take a nice walk and say hello to you." He stated.

"Well…that's…quite nice." Lucy said uncertainly. Rufus smirked at Natsu, then looked around at the park.

"It's such a lovely park, here. I don't recall a park this nice before." He inhaled.

"Lucy and I were just walking home." Natsu said hastily.

"How about I walk you there? I am going to Saber Tooth Academy to say hi to my peers." He pushed himself in between Natsu and Lucy and put his arms around both their necks, making them feel uncomfortable.

"Uh, Rufus? Saber Tooth Academy is _that_ way." Lucy pointed in the opposite direction they were facing. Rufus paused for a while.

"That's right." He quickly turned in the other direction and left. _That was too close. I need another plan._ He thought to himself. He saw a certain white-haired girl tailing them and approached her with an evil plan in mind.

"What a bastard." Natsu muttered. They reached the house to hear Wendy crying from upstairs. Natsu and Lucy looked at each other and ran into the house to find Natsu's parents looking guilty in the kitchen. Natsu and Lucy walked over to them in surprise.

"What happened to Wendy?" Natsu asked.

"Be polite first and at least say hi." Lucy elbowed him.

"It's alright, Lucy dear. About Wendy, we…" Grandeeney looked at Igneel who nodded at her. "We told her we were giving away Happy and Carla's kittens."

"We did everything we could to make her feel better but she's still upset. You know how much Wendy loves kittens."

"Yeah." Natsu put his hands in his pockets. There was a moment of silence while Wendy was crying upstairs in her room. Lucy couldn't bear it anymore. It felt as if her brother Erik had disappeared all over again.

"I'll go and console her." Lucy said.

"Thank you so much, dear." Grandeeney looked at her with eyes of relief. "Just be careful, though. She can throw quite the tantrum." Lucy nodded and carried her oxygen tank up the stairs and knocked on Wendy's door.

"GO AWAY! I DON'T WANNA SEE ANY ONE OF YOU!" She screamed. "WHY WON'T YOU LET ME KEEP THE KITTENS, WHY?!" Lucy sighed. Wendy was never like this before.

"Wendy, it's me." She said quietly. Wendy's cries ceased, but Lucy could still hear her sniffling.

"You can come in." She sniffed. Lucy opened the door to see Wendy's bed filled with wet tissues and she'd buried her face in her pillow.

"Wendy…" Lucy whispered and sat on her bed. "What's going on?"

"I wanted to keep Happy and Carla's babies, but my parents are giving them away. Why? Why can't I keep them?! Why do we have to give them to other people?!"

"To make them happy too!" Lucy replied. She sighed and knelt down beside Wendy. "Look, you're not the only person in Magnolia who loves kittens this much. I personally do too. But think of it this way, some people love kittens and puppies but never have the chance or the money to get one. The kittens your parents are giving away are a chance to make those people happy. You're a kind person, you like making others happy, right?" Wendy sat up.

"Yeah, I guess." She rubbed her wet eyes.

"Then give someone the chance to have a kitten they love." Lucy smiled at her. Wendy sat up and stretched her quivering lips into a smile.

"Ok." She said and hugged Lucy, who smiled and hugged her back. Natsu watched from a crack in the door with a smile on his face too.

 _Lucy's so kind to people._ He thought. _I'm glad I found her when I did._


	17. Plan into Action

Rufus approached the white-haired girl.

"What is your name, little one?" He asked. "Is it Lasagna Straws?"

"Lisanna Strauss." She replied.

"What do you have business to be tailing Natsu and Lucy?" Rufus asked.

"It's none of your business, blondie. I want Natsu and you can't stop me!" Lisanna retorted.

"No, no, Ms. Strauss, you've got the entirely wrong idea. I never wanted to stop you from taking Natsu. In fact, I insist that you take him from Lucy." Rufus smirked at the dumbfounded Lisanna.

"Wow, no one has ever wanted me to do this." She grinned widely, but it faded into a glare. "Wait, what do you get out if this?" She asked suspiciously.

"I…" Rufus pointed in the direction Natsu and Lucy travelled. "…get the girl with the cannula."

"I have no idea why you want _her,_ but this sounds like a great deal to me." Lisanna held out her hand. Rufus grinned and shook it.

"Now, here is the plan…" Rufus whispered the plan in Lisanna's ear, to which she grinned widely.

* * *

It was after dinner when Lucy was watching the women's figure skating Grand Prix finals live on her laptop.

 _"And now Lilia Saverchenko has a quadruple salchow planned next in her program…and here she goes…OH! SHE FELL! BUT QUICKLY GOT HER BALANCE BACK JUST BY PUTTING A HAND DOWN!"_ The host screamed.

"Aw man, she nailed it in the Rostalia Cup, though." Lucy said, disappointed. **[A/N Rostalia is like another country]** While she was watching, Natsu quietly snuck into her room.

 _"Now Lilia's final jump will be a quadruple flip…AND SHE DID IT! WOW! LILIA SAVERCHENKO IS ONE TO GO ABOVE OUR EXPECTATIONS!"_

"Yes!" Lucy cheered.

"Ooh, you're watching porn!" Natsu teased. Lucy, completely startled, jumped off her bed with her laptop in her arms.

"What the heck, Natsu! You scared the heck out of me!" Lucy yelled. Natsu laughed and bowed like a monk.

"Sorry, sorry." He couldn't stop laughing. "But seriously though, what are you watching?"

"The live Grand Prix finals for women's figure skating!" Lucy replied. "Lilia Saverchenko is winning! If she does, it'll be her fifth time!" Lucy sat cross-legged on the floor anticipating for Lilia's score.

"Everyday I learn more and more about you. You are just so mysterious." Natsu said, lying on his stomach on her bed.

 _"And Lilia's score is…233.13! SHE'S BROKEN HER WORLD RECORD AND NOW HER TOTAL SCORE IS 346.37!"_

"Yay!" Lucy cheered for Lilia Saverchenko. Natsu chuckled at her. "Oh yeah by the way, why did you want to barge into my room?" Natsu reached out from outside of Lucy's room and held a tiny white kitten with blue spots in his arms.

"My parents said we could keep one kitten. Wendy and I agreed on this one. What'd you think?" Natsu said.

"Aww, he's so cute!" Lucy purred and stroked its fur. "I don't mind whether we keep this kitten or another one. They're all adorable." Plue growled from next to Lucy. She patted his head to calm him down. "So have you decided on the name?"

"Well, Wendy wanted _you_ to name her." Natsu replied. Lucy stared at him.

"What? Me?" Lucy's eyes gaped.

"Yeah, you." Natsu smiled.

"Wow that's so nice." Lucy said and held the little kitten in her hands. Plue knew to keep his distance. "I think I wanna name him Griffon."

"You sure it's a he?" Natsu lifted up the kitten to check his sex. "Ah well, he used to be." Lucy giggled.

"Maybe we should change the name. How about Ruby?" Lucy asked.

"Eh, she's not very…" He held up his fingers in two bunny ears. "'ruby-ish.'"

"Eh, I think it's nice." Lucy smiled and held the kitten in her arms.

* * *

"No way! Rogue actually groped Yukino?!" Lucy and the others could not contain their laughter at Sting's story of when him, Rogue and Yukino were in middle school and were going on a scavenger hunt appointed by the teachers for fun. They saw what looked like a clue and when Rogue reached his hand out for a pencil, he grabbed Yukino's tiny developing breast.

"I wasn't looking and I just grabbed it!" Rogue slapped his forehead.

"Well thankfully it wasn't Sting's dick." Yukino giggled.

"Oh god, it would've been hell if it were." Rogue thumped his forehead on the desk.

"What happened next?" Lucy asked.

"Well, after Rogue grabbed Yukino's boob, I like, beat the crap out of Rogue and we got detention." Sting replied proudly.

"Dude, drop the subject!" Rogue yelled.

"Ha-ha, sorry, sorry." Sting said unapologetically. Sting, Rogue and Yukino were childhood friends and had been in the same school since 1st grade. Rufus, Orga and Minerva became friends with them later in freshman year. Lucy couldn't help but notice her half-brother staring at Yukino chatting with their friends and couldn't help but feel amused.

"Oh yeah by the way, Valentines' Day is right around the corner." Minerva stated. "What are your plans?"

"That depends on him." Levy nodded towards Gajeel, who blushed profusely.

"Juvia will make Gray-sama beautiful chocolates." Juvia gushed.

"Juvia, let me make chocolate this year. You've done it way too many times before." Gray said.

"Ah, Gray-sama is so kind." Juvia snugged up to Gray.

"Booze, booze, booze!" Cana shouted. "That's my Valentines' Day!"

"Aren't you celebrating it with Bacchus?" Loke asked.

"Oh that's right." Cana paused. "More booze with Bacchus my bae!"

"Wow, this is actually my first Valentines' Day with a long-term girlfriend." Natsu said with wide eyes. The whole table laughed, except for Rufus who bent his head to check his phone.

"I'm going to the bathroom." Rufus muttered and quickly left. He checked to see if the coast was clear and met up with Lisanna at the far corner of the cafeteria. "Did you finish them?"

"Yeah, I did." Lisanna whispered and showed him her work.

"Excellent. Now do you remember their locker numbers?"

"Yes I do. But do you?"

"I have them all memorized." Rufus said proudly. Lisanna rolled her eyes and shoved half of the papers into his arms.

"Then you do half of them." Lisanna said.

"Alright." They nodded to each other then set off on their mission. The group didn't notice Rufus was gone for a suspiciously long time.

"Ok Natsu remember what I taught you?" Lucy stated on their way to her locker.

"Yes, yes, I remember." Natsu replied. Lucy arrived to her locker to see a letter posted on her locker door. It had the _Fifty Shades Darker_ cover of Anastasia Steele on it. Lucy pulled it off and looked at it closely.

 _"You are invited to the Valentines' Day Masquerade Party_

 _7:30pm - 12:00am_

 _Magnolia Country Club_

 _Theme: Fifty Shades Darker"_ Lucy read.

"That seems awesome." Natsu said.

"But would your parents allow it? I mean, it _is_ until midnight. And the theme of an R-rated porno movie?" Lucy looked at the invitation uncomfortably.

"Look, my curfew is 11:30. We'll just leave a few minutes early. Easy-peasy." Natsu stated. "And they only want you to dress up as a character from a porno movie for one night. So it might not be that bad."

"Ok, if you say so." Lucy opened her locker and put the invitation inside. Lucy arrived in science class.

"Yo Lucy, you going to the Masquerade Party?" Cana asked.

"Yeah. You got invited too?" Lucy said with bafflement.

"Duh, the entire junior year got invited, even the exchange students and people in other schools. I for one am going with Bacchus." Cana laughed. "I don't what the big deal is but BOOZE BOOZE AND MORE BOOZE!" Cana furiously drank from her water bottle.

"Do you even know the taste of water?" Lucy sighed.

"So Lucy, what are you planning to dress up in?" Cana asked.

"Just probably something short and grey with a glittery grey mask." Lucy replied.

"Exactly, because the theme is _Fifty Shades Darker._ " Cana had the water bottle in her mouth. "And also, I actually did my science homework."

"No way." Lucy said and patted her back.

"Yeah." Cana said proudly.

"That's great." Lucy smiled.

"Anyway, we gotta go shopping this weekend for the Masquerade Party. Unless you already have something already."

"Actually, I'll join you guys. I need a mask." Lucy replied.

"Then it's settled. You, me and the other gals will go to the mall." Cana slapped Lucy hard on the back, which made her cough and splutter. "Oopsie." Cana chuckled.

* * *

"I honestly don't know what the big deal of this party is." Levy stated as they walked through the hallways of the mall.

"It's not a big deal, it's just a party to have fun." Erza replied. "Besides, it's at the clubhouse."

"Juvia can't wait to go with Gray-sama. Juvia needs a lovely new dress to blow Gray-sama's mind." Juvia jumped up and down.

"Calm down everyone, we just need to find a good bar." Cana grinned.

"No, we're here for dresses and masks." Lucy replied.

"Well, mostly masks." Levy stated.

"Well if masks are our priority, there's a shop in the mall that sells masks only." Erza stated. "This way." The group went down the escalator and into a shop. It was quiet and in some way creepy with top-half mannequins with masks of all different shapes, sizes and colours.

"This place is creepy." Levy clung onto Lucy.

"Mystogan? Are you here?" Erza called out. She lifted up a cloth covering something on a stand.

"Boo." a man with a mask said simply, but it had taken Erza aback.

"Mystogan, what are you doing?" Erza laughed. Mystogan removed his mask.

"You…look exactly like Jellal!" Cana pointed.

"I do happen to be his older brother." Mystogan stated. "I'm usually the assistant, Chase is the one who makes the masks but he's away today. What brings you here, Erza?"

"Well, do you have any masks that are preferably black, white or grey?" Erza asked.

"Preferably black, white or gray…" Mystogan stroked his chin.

"Like the ones from _Fifty Shakes Darker._ " Juvia stated.

"Ah, I get it." Mystogan rummaged through a box of masks and brought out five grey masks outlined with glitter and with feathers on the side. "These are the only ones we have, I think. But maybe there are some in the storage room. You girls try them on and I go see if I can find some more." Mystogan disappeared into a room while the five girls tried on masks.

"I DON'T WANNA LIVEEEE FOREEVERRRR!" Cana but on the mask attempted to sing _I Don't Wanna Live Forever_ by Taylor Swift and Zayn.

"Wow, Cana. Just wow." Lucy slow-clapped while Cana bowed. Mystogan arrived with three masks.

"I found three black and white ones but that's it." He stated. The girls looked at them. The mask was zebra-striped and outlined with fake diamonds.

"Well at least we have more options." Erza replied. "Though I think I'd prefer the black and white." Levy looked at the grey one and the black and white one.

"I'm going with the grey." Levy stated.

"Black and white for me." Cana jumped in. That just left Juvia and Lucy.

"I can't decide." Lucy moaned.

"Neither can Juvia." Juvia replied.

"We have one black and white and two greys." Erza stated.

"Now that Erza mentions it, I think I like the grey. It's the colour of Gray-sama's name." Juvia gushed.

"Ok, that just leaves me." Lucy thought for a moment. Grey or black and white. Grey or black at white.

"Hurry up, Lu." Levy whined.

"Ok, ok, black and white." Lucy blurted.

"Alright then it's settled." Erza said as they paid for the masks.

* * *

 **Yikes, I am so sorry this took me so long. I had a serious case of writers' block and couldn't concentrate. And just a word of warning, I'm going to be pretty busy for the next few weeks until spring break so please don't get pissed at me. Plus, I'm working on a couple of new stories but I know, I should probably try to get the others finished first.**

 **And also, I'd like to thank you all for sticking with me through these tough times. You are all so loyal to me I don't deserve such nice followers and favourites. I'm getting a little sentimental sorry :D Have a nice day all of you 3**


	18. Masquerade Party

**Hey friends :D I spent the ENTIRE day working on this so that's why i got this uploaded early. I hope you enjoy...or not.**

* * *

Lucy looked at herself in the mirror. Valentines' day has arrived. Natsu bought her expensive Godiva chocolates earlier in the day. She wore a tight grey dress with a puffy thigh-length skirt and strappy high-heels. She'd curled her hair and tied it into an Ariana Grande-style half-ponytail. Lucy stroked her chin in thought.

"There's something missing…ah!" She ran to her jewelry box and grabbed the N necklace Natsu bought her. She put it on her neck. Then Lucy grinned to herself and grabbed her hairbrush and quickly sang a song.

 _"Baby, baby, I feel crazy, up all night, all night and every day_

 _I gave you something, but you gave me nothing_

 _What is happening to me?_

 _I don't wanna live forever, 'cause I know I'll be living in vain_

 _And I don't wanna fit wherever…"_ She sang. Natsu knocked on her door.

"Your singing is awesome. But if you don't hurry up I'll leave before you." Natsu called.

"Ok, ok, Mr. Impatient." Lucy put her phone in her purse, adjusted her cannula and went with Natsu to the party.

"Looks like we have to drive there." Natsu said.

"Please no." Lucy begged. "I still remember your horrible driving from the first day we met." Natsu stared at her.

"Ah the memories." He said sarcastically. "But seriously, I'll try my best to not be a madman on the road. Besides, it's probably not as bad as it seemed."

"Ok." Lucy climbed into the front seat while Natsu put on his seatbelt and wriggled his head.

"Look alive, Natsu. Look alive." He muttered to himself and twisted the ignition key. He slowly backed out of the driveway and off to the clubhouse.

"Wow, your driving is a lot better than last time." Lucy remarked.

"Yeah I know. That's 'cause–oh shit!" Natsu honked the car that appeared out of nowhere. "Get out of the road, you stupid drunkass driver!" Natsu screamed. He looked back at his girlfriend who was in the same position as their first car ride disaster.

"Wow, your driving _really_ improved." Lucy said sarcastically.

"Not my fault." Natsu muttered as he continued to drive.

"Natsu, have you ever been to the country club?" Lucy asked.

"Not really. You?" Natsu replied.

"Not me, Sting has. He said that the parties there are rough, crowded and noisy and stuff." Lucy stated. Suddenly, her phone rang and Lucy looked at the screen to see who it was. "Well speak of the devil, he happened to call." Lucy picked up and turned speaker phone on. "Hey Sting."

"Hey, Lucy. I have a big problem. A really big problem." He said nervously.

"Don't tell me Rogue grabbed your dick." Natsu said.

"What the fuck, Natsu!" Sting yelled. "Anyway, remember how I told you I beat the crap out of Rogue when he grabbed one of Yuki's…twins?"

"Not helping, Sting." Lucy stated.

"Ugh. Anyway, the reason why is that I love her. Not just love her as a sister or friend I'm legit in love with her. And I have been since kindergarten."

"Well, why didn't you tell her?" Lucy asked.

"That's why I'm calling you. I want to confess to her at the party but I don't know how. I need some advice." Sting stated.

"Well…I would be straight forward with her. For me when Natsu confessed, he just gave me a kiss and told me. It was romantic but it wasn't cheesy. I suggest you try that." Lucy said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, man. I was freaked out when I told her but when she tells you she likes you back, man…" Natsu sighed. "It's like paradise on paradise."

"Thanks guys. Oh and just a word of warning, Rogue's friend Tyla is gonna be there." Sting said.

"And what's wrong with that…?" Lucy asked.

"She has low alcohol-tolerance and in my opinion, a complete psychopath." Sting replied.

"Thanks, that really helped." Lucy said sarcastically.

"See you guys at the party." Sting said.

"Bye." The couple said in sync and hung up the phone. Lucy sighed.

"I'm getting a little freaked out about this Tyla girl." Natsu said.

"You think?" Lucy chuckled. After a few minutes later, Natsu parked the car at the country club. It was a simple building but you could tell from the outside that there was a huge party going on in there.

"This is it. You ready to party?" Natsu put on a grey puppy mask.

"What is that?" Lucy had a look of fright and confusion on her face.

"This is what I wore in second grade. And I'm surprised it still fits." Natsu stated. Lucy giggled and put on her black and white mask.

"Let's go." The two stepped out of the car and into the building. Lucy felt a little frightened as she clung onto Natsu's arm and held her wheelie bag on her back.

"It's a little crowded in here." Lucy said.

"What?!" Natsu couldn't hear her.

"IT'S A LITTLE CROWDED IN HERE!" Lucy shouted in his ear.

"YOU DON'T SAY!" Natsu shouted back. The two were greeted by Sting who instantly took off his mask.

"Natsu, Lucy, I really need your help. It's about Yuki." Sting looked like he was about to burst.

"What?!" Lucy shouted. Sting grabbed the two of them and dragged them to a quiet corner.

"I need your help. I'm really afraid of telling Yukino." Sting shivered.

"Don't be." Lucy patted his arm. "Yuki's been your friend for a long time you guys would be perfectly fine."

"But what if she says no and then I've ruined our friendship?!" Sting looked like he was about to cry.

"It happens, but if that happens you're gonna have to move on." Natsu replied solemnly. Sting sat down on the nearest chair and looked paralyzed. Lucy bent down.

"Look Sting, I'm pretty sure she likes you too. But if she does say no, you have to talk to her about that." Lucy replied. "Besides, it's good life experience." She stood up next to Natsu. Sting looked at them with hopeful eyes.

"You really think so?" He said with puppy eyes. They nodded.

"Sting! Natsu! Lucy!" The three of them turned to see Rogue with his arm around a familiar pinkette in a sparkly grey strapless thigh-length dress with two large splits on the side and a mask sitting on her head. Ten small hoop earrings sat on her left ear.

"Rogue. I see you brought Tyla." Sting said with glaring eyes.

"I was invited too, bee-face." Tyla replied roughly. She looked at Natsu and Lucy. "You guys are the happy couple I've heard about?" She pulled a packet of cigarettes from her pocket and lit one up. "You guys are so cute together. I shouldn't be saying that since my last boyfriend broke up with me over the phone." She puffed a cloud of smoke into the air.

"That's…quite harsh." Lucy said. "I understand the pain."

"Hmm, rarely anyone does. We could be good friends." She held out her thin tanned hand with long decorated pink nails and three gold bangles on her wrists. "Tyla Selene, pleasure."

"Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy shook the pinkette's hand.

"By the way Tyla, if some guy confessed to you right here right now that he liked you, what would you do?" Sting asked. Tyla thought for a moment as she puffed out another cloud of smoke. A crooked smile stretched onto her thick blood-red lips.

"I would be so flattered that he had the guts to tell me." She sighed and took a drag from her cigarette. "That is, depending on the guy." She added. Sting nodded his head. "Why do you ask?"

"Sting's gonna confess to Yukino." Rogue whispered to her. Her face shifted from cool to completely enthusiastic.

"That's amazing!" Tyla squealed.

"By the way, this habit is dreadfully unhealthy." Rogue snatched the cigarette from her fingers and tossed it aside.

"Tch, party pooper." Tyla muttered and rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you're going to tell her here, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh my god!" Tyla jumped up and down like a little girl, clearly not her attitude from before. "I'll go and fetch Yuki." Tyla ran off with her strappy high-heels klip-klopping her every step.

"No! Tyla, wait!" Sting tried to grab her arm but she was already gone. He sank back down into his chair. "I'm screwed, I'm not even ready yet."

"People are never ready when they're in this kind of situation." Rogue stated and patted his friend's shoulder.

"Ok, Yuki, what's about to happen is something very serious and you should probably brace yourself." Tyla said to Yukino as she pulled the white-haired girl from the crowd and in front of Sting, who stood up immediately.

"Oh, hey Sting." Yukino smiled at the blonde, who smiled back uneasily.

"Ok, I'll leave you two to it." Tyla giggled and was pulled away by Rogue.

"So Sting, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about–" Yukino was interrupted by the sudden kiss Sting planted on her lips.

"Oh god, the poor idiot." Rogue muttered as Sting broke off the kiss.

"I'm really sorry, Yuki. It's just something I've been wanting to do for a few years." Sting blushed profusely. Yukino was speechless, but she didn't need to say anything. She gently placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed him again.

"I feel the same." She gently mumbled. Sting blushed and kissed her back. Lucy put her hands on her heard as Natsu put his arm around her. Rogue turned to see Tyla coughing and spluttering with black tears of mascara running down her face.

"Jeez, Ty." Rogue rolled his eyes and wiped her eyes with a tissue.

"That just leaves you, single lady." Tyla elbowed Rogue, who slapped her arm.

"Don't remind me, single lady number two." Rogue replied. Another white-haired girl with a flamboyant grey mask and a knee-length dress looks at them and makes a phone call.

"They're here." She says and leaves the scenery. Tyla grabs the six of them a few beers in paper cups and sits them on the table they're sitting at.

"So you guys are…officially gonna date?" She flicks her eyebrows and takes a sip from her cup.

"I guess so…" Yukino blushed profusely. "That really depends on when Sting asks me."

"Aw, poor coward." Tyla said sarcastically.

"J-just stop it." Sting stuttered and turned beet red. Natsu patted Rogue's arm.

"Does she always have a habit of making people uncomfortable?" He whispered.

"Yes, this is not the worst of it." Rogue replied.

"Oh, are you guys gonna make love on your first date?" Tyla asked gleefully.

"No! Stop it!" Yukino hid her face.

"Then let's talk about me! The first time I did it was when…"

"Stop it!" Rogue elbowed his friend.

"Fine." Tyla took another sip from her beer. "So how about you guys? How was your first date?" She asked Natsu and Lucy.

"Well, I took her to Moondance Diner, and…"

"Wait, don't forget the Coffee Club. Remember? The one Jellal's dad ran?" Lucy reminded him.

"That was before I confessed, back when we were still friends." Natsu stated.

"Aw, that's adorable." Yukino gushed.

"Yeah." Lucy leaned her head on Natsu's shoulder and wrapped her arms around his.

"Get a room, you two." Tyla bit her long fake nails.

"Hola! Mi AMIGOS!" A drunk Cana danced on the center table with Bacchus.

"Let's have DANCE-OFF!" Bacchus twirled Cana around and they began to dance like Spanish Flamenco dancers.

"Dancing is MANLY!" Elfman began to breakdance and do flips.

"I will not stand by and let the title of queen get taken away!" A drunk Minerva shouted and started wiggling her junk.

"The title was MINE!" Erza turned competitive mode on. "Come on Jellal, dance Flamenco with me!" She dragged her baffled boyfriend to the dancefloor and mirrored Bacchus and Cana

"Count me in!" Gajeel flipped to the dancefloor and started breakdancing as well.

"Oh dear, this turned into a disaster." Lucy put a hand over her mouth.

"I'm joining in too!" A half-naked Gray stood on a table in his underwear.

"Gray-sama is so hot when he strips." Juvia gushed as he joined in the dance-off. He jumped around and flapped his arms like a dying drunk bird and then started to do the Egyptian dance. The DJ, seeing this ridiculous sight, plays Tik Tok by Kesha.

 _"NOW THE PARTY DON'T START TILL I WALK IT!"_ Cana shouted.

 _"Don't stop, make it pop_

 _DJ, blow my speakers up_

 _Tonight, Imma fight_

 _'Til we see the sunlight_

 _TiK ToK, on the clock_

 _But the party don't stop no_

 _Whoa-oh oh oh_

 _Whoa-oh oh oh!"_ Everyone sang along to the song, including the six isolated people in the corner.

"OOHHHH OHH OH OOOOOHHHHHH!" Minerva drunkenly screamed and stomped her feet.

"Dance with me, Barky!" Cana licked her lips and growled at Bacchus.

"You got it, Cha-Cha." Bacchus licked his lips as well and danced with Cana harder.

"I need a partner!" Minerva shouted and grabbed a random hand, which happened to be Sting's.

"No! Yukino! Save me!" Sting screamed in despair as Yukino held onto his other hand for dear life.

"Minerva's so strong!" Yukino shouted. Rogue and Tyla joined in to help Yukino pull Sting away from the drunken demon.

"Suck it up and dance with me!" Minerva slurred her words and pulled harder.

"This is tug of war!" Sting cried as the two girls and the other two were pulling at his arms. "I'm too young to be ripped apart by savages!"

"I'm not part of this." Lucy stated.

"Neither am I." Natsu couldn't contain his laughter.

"It seems like everyone is getting drunk." Lucy said as a crying Juvia held onto her Gray-sama while Levy sat in a chair and couldn't stop laughing. Erza couldn't stop yelling at random people and threatening to kill them while Orga was completely passed out and foaming at the mouth.

"I think I'm gonna go to the bathroom and freshen up." Lucy said.

"I'll wait for you outside. This is just too much." Natsu followed Lucy to the girls' bathroom and waited outside. A girl with a mask approached Natsu.

"Natsu…" She rolled her tongue.

"What…what?" Natsu backed away. The girl lifted up her mask to reveal her face.

"It's me, Natsu. Your one and only Lasagna-I mean Lisanna." The white haired girl came closer to Natsu.

"What? My one and only is Lucy." Natsu countered.

"Why do you like her anyway?" Lisanna asked with disgust.

"Because…" Natsu looked at the bathroom door. "It's hard to explain. Someone like you would never understand. When I'm with her, it's like the stars part and we're dancing around in paradise." Lisanna rolled her eyes.

"Well why can't WE have that?! Why can't we just be NaLi again?!" Lisanna whined.

"Because you're not Lucy! That's why! Lucy is Lucy and you are you. I don't like you like I used to just because…of you!" Natsu retorted.

"I can be Lucy! I can be everything Lucy isn't!" Lisanna screamed.

"Exactly! I'm happy with Lucy, not you! Now if you can just scram off, I'm waiting for her." Natsu grumbled and leaned against the wall. Lisanna started shaking with anger.

"I am going to have you one way or another!" Lisanna jumped on top of Natsu and kissed him hard on the lips. Natsu broke off the kiss and pushed the white-haired girl off of him.

"Lisanna! What the heck was that for?!" Natsu shouted. Lisanna looked to see a blonde carrying her wheelie bag out of the country club and smirked.

"Bye-bye, Natsu. I'll see you tomorrow. Or tonight." She walked away slyly.

* * *

Lucy ran out of the country club in tears, not looking behind to see if anybody was following her. Why would Natsu do this to her? Didn't they have a great relationship? Lucy sat on the pavement crying.

"Aw, what happened there?" A familiar blonde man patted her shoulder. Lucy turned to see who it was. It was Rufus.

"Natsu…" She whispered and continued to cry. "He was…kissing…Lisanna." She cried.

"Aw, it's ok." Rufus stroked her hair gently. "Well you know, if you still want a healthy relationship, you could always come to me." Lucy looked at him.

"That's really nice of you." She sniffed and managed a smile. "But no. I just hate men. Men are stupid. I don't wanna see another man." Rufus backed away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just because the pinkette cheated on you, doesn't mean all men are evil." He stated.

"I know." Lucy wiped her eyes. Rufus held her chin and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Just, think about it." He whispered and disappeared into the night. Lucy looked down at the ground and got up on her wobbly legs. She sighed, fixed her cannula and walked home solemnly.


	19. To Forgive or Not to Forgive

Natsu immediately realized Lucy was gone. He checked everywhere; the pool, the party, the yard, the carpark, everywhere. He asked everyone if they've seen her.

"Not sure." Sting replied while cuddling with Yukino.

"Dunno." Gray stated while dancing with a crying Juvia.

"Disappeared or something." Tyla slurred her words and poured champagne into her mouth.

"Well I noticed her leave the bathroom." Rogue stated.

"I think she left." Loke said. Natsu jumped into his car and floored the car. He drove back home as fast as he could. Luckily, his parents weren't there and wouldn't be back until Monday. And Wendy was on a field trip and wouldn't be back until tomorrow.

"Lucy! Lucy! Where are you?!" He screamed. He ran into her room and saw her with her bags on the bed half filled with clothes.

"Oh hi, Natsu. I didn't realize you would be back so soon." Lucy said sarcastically as she emptied out her closet.

"You're leaving?" Natsu said with shock.

"Well since you probably don't want the lung cancer girl to be living here while you go score with some other girls." Lucy said furiously while stuffing her clothes in her bags.

"What gave you that idea?"

"Natsu, don't play dumb with me. I saw you kissing Lisanna." Lucy glared at him.

"Lucy, she forced herself on me because she was mad at me for going out with you." Natsu explained.

"You say that now just to get me to forgive you. Maybe if I were the other girls you went out with, I would believe you." Lucy retorted.

"Are you saying that after all we've been through, you don't trust me?" Natsu asked with shock. Lucy froze, she didn't know what to say. She wanted to say that she trusted him, but every time she opened her mouth, the image of Lisanna kissing Natsu plagued her mind.

"I-I don't know." was all she could manage.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Natsu's voice was rising.

"I just don't, Natsu!" Lucy yelled. Natsu stared at her with a look of hurt. Lucy sighed. "Look, I'll think about this. Tomorrow, I'm going to Sting's house." Lucy said and continued packing.

"Lucy please stay." Natsu grabbed her arm.

"I said I'll think about it." Lucy snatched her arm away from Natsu's grip, who looked even more hurt than he already did.

"Fine." He muttered and left the room. "Have you ever stopped to wonder why I've held onto you for so long?" He asked before quietly closing the door. Lucy sank to the floor and cried. Plue nuzzled his nose into her thighs.

"Oh Plue." She hugged her dog and cried harder. Natsu listened to her sobs and small tears fell down his cheeks. He was not going to let her go like this. He loved her too much to hear her cry like this. He needed a plan to secure their relationship and keep her from falling into darkness. He solemnly walked outside to the park, and getting ready to work.

* * *

Lucy rubbed her sleepy eyes, she'd fallen asleep on her messy bed filled with clothes and bags. She sighed and looked out the window. The cherry blossoms outside reminded her of her first few days with Natsu by her side. She reached her for her phone, but found something soft on it; a cherry blossom. Underneath was a small piece of paper.

 _Lucy please forgive me._ It said.

"Natsu…" She whispered and sighed. She put the paper and the flower on the bedside table and checked the time. 12:00, she'd stayed up too late last night. She went to the bathroom. She reached for the clothes she'd prepared the night before and found another cherry blossom and another piece of paper on it.

 _I swear I love you only, Lucy._ It said. Lucy was getting a little concerned and put the flower and the paper on the sink. She got changed and reached for her toothbrush, only to find the same things.

 _I would gladly give anything to you for your happiness and health._ The next piece of paper said.

"It's weird how he knows what I'm about to do next." Lucy whispered to herself and put the paper and flower next to the previous one and brushed her teeth. Lucy washed her face and reached for the towel, only to find the same thing. She quickly wiped her face clean and read the paper.

 _Remember the day I first led you to Algebra class?_ It said. Lucy stared at it. It had been a long time since the first day they met. It brought back memories of their adventure together. Lucy blinked her eyes and dismissed the note, ready to eat breakfast.

"Strange, Natsu's not here." She muttered to herself and reached for the box of Coco Puffs. And she found the same thing, and a Queen of Hearts card with it.

 _Remember the first movie we watched together?_ It said. Lucy bit her lip. She really wanted to give in but every time she felt like running to Natsu and apologizing, the image of Natsu and Lisanna came back into her mind. Lucy held back her tears and went back upstairs to continue on her novel. She opened her draw, and found a pink lily with a note.

 _If I could have only one memory, it would be our first kiss._ It said. Lucy gasped. He remembered all of this, every second of every minute of every hour of every day. _Have you ever stopped to wonder why I've held onto you for so long?_ Those words played over and over again in her mind. She took her novel and placed it into her back. Then she opened her closet to get more clothes, only to find a picture of her and Natsu together with two pink lilies attached and a note.

 _If you don't understand for one day, I'll stay with you for one day until you understand. If you don't understand for a year, I'll stay with you for a year until you understand. If you don't understand for the rest of your live, I'll stay with you for the rest of your life until you understand._ Lucy held onto the note and cried. What was happening to her? Those words, those words were plaguing her mind over and over again. Lucy wiped her tears and decided to go for a walk. She reached for Plue's leash to find three pink lilies and a note with two pictures of their happy moments together.

 _You are the only one I want, the only one I need._ Lucy bit her thumbnail, she couldn't give in. She wanted to but she also didn't. She felt the feeling of a dilemma creeping over her. Lucy put Plue on his leash and walked out the door. Four pink lilies sat on the mail box with three happy pictures of Natsu and Lucy together along with a note.

 _You can't leave, you won't leave. If you do leave, Natsu Dragneel would be dead._ Lucy couldn't hide her tears anymore. She ran from the house and to the park. She noticed five pink lilies sitting on a park bench with four happy pictures of them together and a note.

 _Remember the flowers? And those happy summer days?_ Lucy looked around. The feeling of the wind blowing her hair and the petals falling from the trees gave her the feeling of nostalgia. The memories, the truly beautiful memories. She blinked and slapped the side of her head.

"Snap out of it, Lucy. Get going." She sighed and continued walking Plue. She walked by the playground where Natsu pushed her on the swing. She looked at it and saw six pink lilies and five of their pictures along with another note.

 _Remember the glory days of friendship and laughter?_ Lucy didn't know what to say. Did Natsu still really love her that much? It was too much to think about, so she went back to the house for some rest. She looked at the front door and saw seven pink lilies tied to the door along with a picture of a Christmas tree and a letter.

 _To my one and only Lucy._

 _I know you probably don't trust me anymore after than incident but I just want you to know this._

 _Everything I have ever said to you I mean it. I truly love you, I mean it. You are my one and only, I mean it. I would gladly give you anything I mean it. You may not believe me after what just happened, but I really do. I don't love Lisanna, and I never have. Lisanna was the one who pounced on me, not the other way around. She was just pissed about the fact that I love you instead of her. It's true I have to, I'll prove it to you._

 _If you don't realize it, that's fine. I'll keep on showing you my love until you realize it. I'll carry the weight of the world on my shoulders if I have to. I'll jump off a cliff if I have to. I'll spend every dollar I have if I have to._

 _We've had tough times in our adventure together but we've always got past that. If after this sappy talk and you still don't trust me, that's fine. I understand if you wanna go live with Sting instead._

 _But I will say this. I asked you if you've ever stopped to wonder why I've held onto you for so long. Well, here's the answer._

 _I've held onto you for so long because I see my future in you. I spend one minute with you and that's more than what ten billion girls combined can give me in a lifetime. When I'm with you, it's like I never want to speak to anybody else or hear anybody else talk or see anybody else. Because you're Lucy Heartfilia and you are my one and only. You are my sun, moon and stars. Lucy, you are my everything and I'm not going to give up on you. Even if when hope seems completely lost, I'm not giving up. I don't care if there is anything left in the world, you are what I need. If I lose my Lucy, my one and only, my everything, my meaning of life, I'd be dead inside._

 _You are far from beautiful, you are breathtaking, even when you wake up in the morning and you don't have your makeup on. Your laugh is far from adorable, it's music to my ears, more than what Beyoncé and Taylor Swift can do. Your kindness is beyond a lot, you are so kind to everyone, even if they're sick bastards like me. Your strength is beyond great, it's unlimited. You could carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, but you make me want to carry it with you. You're far from amazing. I can't even describe how. Words cannot describe how much I am sorry for all the shit I did to you and you have all the right to be mad at me._

 _If you still think I'm speaking bullshit, fine. You have the right to think that. But if you want to talk, I'm up in my room trying to figure out a better way to make it up to you than a bunch of pictures, notes and flowers._

 _Love from Natsu._

 _P.S. feel free to break the N necklace if you want._

Tears rolled from Lucy's face and onto the letter. She couldn't hold back. Words of apology and love her filling her mind and ready to spill out of her mouth. She dropped Plue's leash and ran up the stairs. Lucy slammed Natsu's room open, to see he was pacing up and down the room.

"Oh, hi Lucy." He said with a weak smile. Lucy held up the letter and the lilies.

"These. You really meant it." She whispered.

"Of course, Lucy." He said earnestly. "Do you think I would go through all that trouble of going to a flower store at 11 if it weren't for you? I'd do anything for you." He held her hands. Lucy couldn't stand it anymore.

"I'm so sorry." She threw her arms around his neck and cried against his shoulder.

"Why are you apologizing? I should be the one to apologize. After all, I made you cry." He said.

"No, no. I should apologize for not trusting you and thinking you actually had an affair with Lisanna." Lucy sniffed.

"It's ok Lucy." Natsu lifted up her face and stared into her eyes. "All that matters is that it's all good and I have the right to love you again." Lucy chuckled weakly.

"You always have, Natsu." Lucy gave him a small kiss on the lips.

"So are we cool now?" Natsu asked. Lucy bit her lip.

"Actually, after I left the country club, Rufus kissed me." She confessed.

"He WHAT?!" Natsu shouted.

"He…kissed me." Lucy said nervously. Natsu looked like he was about to blow up, but sighed.

"Well what exactly happened?" He asked.

"Um, he wanted me to be in a relationship with him but I said no, then he kissed me and told me to think about it." Lucy replied sheepishly.

"So…are you gonna reply to that?" Natsu asked.

"With a no." Lucy replied more confidently.


	20. Field Trip part 1

**Sorry this took some time, I actually had a busy few days. Anyway, I'm going to do a few stories next so please vote for which ones you want to see me do next. The poll is on my profile and details are below.**

* * *

"Wow! The springtime is so much more beautiful than last year!" Lucy gushed as they opened the front door.

"And I'm so tired." Natsu yawned.

"Oh come on, sleepyhead." Lucy giggled and grabbed his hand. "Don't worry hon, it's almost spring break and we'll get to relax _all_ day." Lucy dragged the pinkette to down the drive. "Oh wait, now that your driving got better, we can drive to school instead of walking."

"Sorry Lucy, I'm too tired to drive." Natsu rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"Fine." Lucy rolled her eyes and dragged him off to school.

"By the way Natsu, you still haven't fixed my flowers yet!" Grandeeney called from the front door.

"Oops." Natsu all of a sudden had a look of guilt on his face. "I'll get that when I come home, Ma." Natsu grabbed Lucy's wrist and dragged her off to school.

"Hello there, Lucy." A familiar blonde man stood by her locker when she got there.

"Rufus, I thought the clear answer was no." Lucy groaned and opened her locker door.

"Aw come on, Lucy. Just give us a shot." Rufus pleaded.

"Look, I'm happy with Natsu ok?" Lucy glared at him in the eye.

"But…"

"If you do come around Lucy again, I will break your leg in theater class." Natsu put an arm around Lucy protectively.

"Theater class?" Lucy looked at Natsu.

"Oh yeah this semester, they added theater class." Natsu replied.

"That's awesome." Lucy grinned.

"Now get lost, Lucas!" Natsu snarled at the blonde man.

"Uh, my name is Rufus." He stated angrily.

"Rufus, Schmufus, I don't care." Natsu cracked his fingers, which sent Rufus backing away and walking off. Lucy looked at her schedule.

"Looks like we have Algebra Class first after mentoring." Natsu released his arms from Lucy as she opened her locker. "Did you do your homework like I told you to?"

"I did. There's always that remainder right?" Natsu confirmed.

"Yup." Lucy nodded her head and thrust her bag into the locker. Natsu did a little cheer dance as he followed her to class. Mr. Conbolt greeted the two as they walked into the room.

"Good morning Mr. Dragneel and Ms. Heartfilia." He said warmly.

"'Morning, teach." Natsu replied and sat in his usual seat. The classroom was unusually heated today.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked Levy.

"Have you forgotten? It's almost Spring Break!" Levy replied.

"So?" Lucy asked.

"Don't you get it? It's the time where the exchange students leave. And so then the school hosts a school trip."

"That seems really cool. Though I'm really gonna miss Sting." Lucy stated.

"Well, you guys are brother and sister. You can just keep in touch." Levy replied.

"Settle down class, settle down." Mr. Conbolt made motioned the class to quiet down. "As you all know, the field trip is almost coming up. To those newbies here, every year right before Spring Break, we all go on a 3-day school trip to a place out of the ordinary. And this year, we have decided…that we are going to Caracall Island." The whole class gasped.

"Caracall Island? That giant tropical island?"

"I've been there once."

"It's my first time! I'm so excited!"

"Where should we go first?"

"I'm dying to see all the flowers they have there!"

"I guess that's part of the island." Chatters of excitement filled the classroom.

"You will all be in travel groups of eight. Feel free to roam the island as long as you don't get yourself into danger and you all must return to the inn by 8:30pm. Lights out by 10:30pm. Next week on Monday, we meet at the harbour. We'll be travelling by yacht." After that, the rest of homeroom was dedicated to deciding groups.

"So we have you, me, Gajeel and Levy…" Natsu wrote down on a piece of paper with Lucy, Gajeel and Levy looking at the paper. "Sting! Rogue! Wanna join our group?!"

"Sure." The two of them joined in.

"Now it's you me, Gajeel, Levy, Sting and Rogue. We need two more people." Lucy picked up the piece of paper.

"Oh, I invited Yukino." Sting pulled his white-haired girlfriend into the group.

"That's great." Lucy smiled. "Now we just need one more person…"

"I'm in a group with nobody, surprisingly." Loke said sadly as he approached them.

"That's because you hit on every girl in the group last year, and the year before." Levy stated.

"I guess that makes it the eight of us." Natsu grinned widely. "This trip to Crocus is gonna be AWESOME!"

"Though we have to plan where we're going, you know." Lucy stated.

"It's almost time for next class. Let's all meet up and the Chocolate Lounge after school and we can decide then." Sting suggested.

"Ok then." Levy grinned.

* * *

The eight of them sat at a round table with their laptops and newly bought tour guide books. Lucy, Levy and Yukino were the faster readers, so they scanned the books as fast as they could. The boys scrolled through websites of Caracall Island on their laptop as Meredy served them their milkshakes.

"There aren't exactly much places to go. It's basically an island." Lucy stated as she flipped through another book.

"That is true. But there are forests and beaches and stuff. I could collect a lot of stuff there!" Levy squeaked excitedly.

"Looks like my Shrimp is getting all giddy." Gajeel ruffled her short blue hair.

"The inn seems pretty nice." Loke stated. "It's not five-star but it had lot's of good reviews."

"Ooh, there's a yacht that we can ride and eat lunch." Yukino grinned and examined the page.

"Oh no…" Natsu put his hand on his forehead.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked.

"Salamander here get's seasickness." Gajeel elbowed his cousin.

"It'll be fine." Lucy patted his head and went back to reading.

"Aw man, this is awesome!" Sting grinned widely.

"What?" Rogue looked over to see what he was reading.

"They let you have borrow surf-boards and give you free lessons! This is FRICKIN AWESOME!" Sting laughed maniacally.

"Ooh! They have glider stuff!" Gajeel's eyes widened. "Holds two people and it's a little like a helicopter with no spinning thingy at the top! It's electronic gliding!"

"The coral there look pretty nice. I bet Juvia would like it." Levy stated. "By the way, did I tell you she's gunning for a place in the advanced swim team?"

"No way." Natsu leaned back in his chair.

"I heard earning a place in that team is really hard." Loke stated.

"She texted me and said she's gonna be using this field trip time as a training camp." Levy said.

"Well good luck to Juvia." Lucy gave Levy a thumbs-up and got back to reading.

"I heard the Star Mangoes there are to die for!" Natsu grinned widely.

"There's Natsu, all about the food." Lucy giggled.

"Caracall Island seems really fun. Wonder if I could meet any ladies." Loke adjusted his sunglasses.

"But, we already agreed that you wouldn't hit on anyone." Levy glared at the orange-haired guy. Lucy whipped her notebook out of her schoolbag.

"So I guess the places we're going are the forests, the yacht and the surfing and scuba diving at the beach?" Lucy confirmed

"There's scuba diving?" Sting turned his head to look at her.

"Uh huh, otherwise how will we be able to see the coral reefs?" Lucy smiled.

"Ok, then. So it's the forest, and we're going on the yacht and then surfing and scuba diving at the beach. Sounds awesome!" Sting grinned.

"Maybe we shouldn't plan, just have fun." Yukino put her book down.

"I guess you're right." Rogue said and closed his computer.

* * *

Lucy packed her duffel bag with the last of her toiletries. Plue jumped at her feet with little Ruby purring by her side. The two became good friends, despite being dog and cat. Lucy patted both their heads.

"It'll only be for two nights." She said kindly. "I'll be back before you know it. Besides, Wendy will take good care of you." She checked her packing list. Clothes, toiletries, pajamas and swimsuit. She didn't forget anything. So she adjusted her giant beach hat and smoothed her thigh-length skirt. She adjusted her loose pink shirt, put on her flip flops and walked out of the room. Natsu was already waiting for her by the front door. He had a tank top, shorts, flip flops and a baseball cap turned to the back with his scarf wrapped around it. He noticed Lucy and gave her a giant grin.

"You ready to go?" He said.

"Yeah." Lucy and Natsu got into the back of the car. Igneel and Grandeeney were in the front with Igneel driving.

"So Lucy, is this your first time on a field trip?" Igneel asked.

"Well, my first school trip." Lucy replied.

"You excited, kids?" Grandeeney asked.

"Well duh! I have to have the Star Mangoes they have!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly.

"Actually, Caracall Island was where Igneel and I first met." Grandeeney stated.

"Whoa, really?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, it was when we were in our twenties. I'd just graduated and my friends and I were celebrating." Grandeeney started reminiscing. "I was sitting at the dock when my friends wanted to throw me in and I told them we were graduates and we were mature people. But they didn't listen. They lifted me up and threw me into the sea. Just then, your father's head popped out from the water and his head ended up right in between…"

"Oh my god!" Lucy couldn't contain her laughter.

"Ah, the softness…" Igneel was in a daze.

"Dad!" Natsu nudged his father.

"Igneel! Focus on the road!" Grandeeney screamed. Igneel woke up and quickly dodged the incoming car. Natsu looked at the Lucy who had the same face as he and Lucy's first car ride.

"Devil Driver Natsu has returned!" Lucy whisper-shouted.

"We're here, kids." Igneel said. Lucy looked out at the harbour. A few of students were already there, including their group. Mr. Conbolt and Ms. Evergreen were there also. Natsu and Lucy got their bag.

"We'll miss you Lucy and Natsu." Grandeeney gave her son a kiss on the cheek.

"Have a great trip, you kids." Igneel waved to them as they left for the dock. Sting noticed the two of them walking towards them and waved as Igneel and Grandeeney left.

"Yo Natsu, Lucy!" He waved his arm vigorously.

"Sting!" They walked towards the blonde as the others turned around to see the two of them.

"Lu!" Levy exclaimed. "Aren't you stoked for Caracall Island?!"

"Well duh!" Lucy replied with a wide grin on her face.

"I've never been to a tropical island before." Yukino joined in. The eight of them chattered excitedly as the other students arrived. Gray's group, which consisted of Juvia, Erza, Jellal, Cana, Mirajane, Elfman and Laxus came in, along with Minerva's group of Orga, Rufus, Lisanna, Laki, Kinana, Alzack and Bisca. After that was boarding time.

"Wow, I can really feel the wind!" Lucy leaned over the bar on the front deck and looked down into the ocean. Natsu sat down on the deck next to her with a sick green face.

"I…need…to…HURRRRLLL!" He gulped.

"Natsu, look! Dolphins!" Lucy pointed at the sea, where majestic grey creatures of fins jumped out of the deep blue sea and back in. Lucy grabbed her phone and snapped a photo. "It's such a shame there's no signal."

"Yeah…" Natsu's stomach churned.

"Ah, nothing like the cool breeze of the sea." She took a deep breath, but came to the realization she had a cannula in her nose. She sighed and leaned on the bar. She put a hand on her hat to keep it from flying. Only the sound of the sea hitting against the yacht could be heard and the seagulls cried as they flew above the yacht. Lucy sighed, she could stay like this forever. Then her seasick boyfriend finally managed to stand up, but hurled over the deck.

"Oh my god, Natsu!" She patted his back as he threw up into the ocean. "Calm down now, it's ok." The pinkette panted as he stopped vomiting. "Oh, let's get you to a bathroom."

"Ok." Natsu whispered as Lucy supported him on the way to the bathroom. They found a men's bathroom and Natsu immediately rushed in. Lucy waited patiently outside as Natsu got sick in the bathroom. Sting and Yukino, with juices in their hands, came passing by. The couple noticed her and made their way towards her.

"Yo Lucy, where's Natsu?" Sting asked.

"He has seasickness, so I'm waiting out here." Lucy replied.

"Oh, poor Natsu." Yukino said sympathetically. "It's gonna be a few hours before we get there. I asked Mr. Conbolt and he said that it would be at least 3:30 in the afternoon when we get there."

"Looks like I'll be staying here for a while." Lucy sighed. After another ten minutes, Natsu groggily walked out of the bathroom.

"I rinsed my mouth." He whispered.

"Ok, ok. Maybe we should get you some water or something." Lucy helped Natsu sit on a couch in the lounge and quickly ran to get a glass of water for him. By the time she returned, Natsu had already passed out. Lucy sighed and set the glass on a nearby table and sat down next to Natsu. Luckily, Gajeel and Levy sat down on the couch in front of her.

"How's Salamander holdin' up?" Gajeel asked unsympathetically.

"Not so good." Lucy replied and patted his salmon-pink hair.

"Well lucky for him, it's 11:47 and it's almost lunchtime. Plus, there's only like, four hours and twenty-three minutes left." Levy stated. **[A/N am I right?]**

"Um, Levy? That's a long time for a seasick dude." Lucy stated.

"I know, I know." Levy said sheepishly. "But there's a seafood buffet just down the hall." In an instant, as if he had no seasickness at all, Natsu sat up with a greedy look in his eyes.

"Did you just say _seafood buffet_?!" He licked his lips as his eyes shined with excitement.

"Down the hall to your left." Gajeel stated. Natsu took off running like a predator's attack on its prey.

"There goes Natsu, he's totally fine when you mention food." Lucy giggled.

"You should try it too, Lu." Levy stated and sipped on her cocktail-like drink with the little umbrella. "They have these super delicious stuffed clams that are just like…AWW! And the shrimp is ESPECIALLY exquisite!" Levy started getting excited.

"Apparently my Shrimp has resorted to cannibalism." Gajeel whispered.

"Hey!" Levy elbowed him.

"Maybe I will try the stuffed clams." Lucy got up, grabbed the handle of her wheelie bag and slowly walked down to the buffet. The aroma of delicious food filled the air and steam lay on the room like a cat. She looked around for Natsu, he couldn't be too hard to miss. Lucy looked at a pot with the label: _Stuffed Clams._ With one dainty hand, she reached out, nabbed one and nibbled on it. Levy was right, the stuffed clams were DELICIOUS. Her face beamed with the warmth and flavour as she grabbed a plate and filled it with stuffed clams. After filling her plate with a giant mountain of stuffed clams, she looked around for Natsu.

"Oi! You!" A voice shouted. Lucy was shocked. Had she taken too many clams? She turned around to see a man shouting at a familiar pink-haired man.

"What do you want?" He said uninterestedly.

"What's with you?! Stop stealing all the food from the kitchen!" The man screamed.

"There's nothing out here!" Natsu retorted and stuffed his face. Lucy giggled and sat down on the second chair at his table.

"Looks like you got better." Lucy said and started on her clam-platter.

"You're eating more than usual." Natsu replied.

"The stuffed clams are just too good." Lucy squealed.

"Yeah, I know." He said and held up his plate of stuffed clams piled up like a mountain. Lucy giggled and stuffed as many clams in her face as she could. The more she ate, the more she felt like a giant ray of sunshine, a fat one. She wasn't very plump, she was rather on the thin side except for her huge knockers. Which a lot of guys noticed on the streets. Natsu continued on his mountain while Lucy nibbled on her clams.

"I wonder what it's like on the island." Lucy started daydreaming.

"One thing's for sure, I can't wait to go on those glider things!" Natsu made a fist.

"You hate going on a boat but you love planes and stuff." Lucy rolled her eyes.

"I just hate the rocking." Natsu retorted and he stuffed his face with seafood.

"But there's like, rocking in gliding." Lucy shot back.

"Not really…" Natsu said. After the seafood buffet, the two of them, along with their group, stood outside on the main deck. Natsu was hanging over the bar with a green face.

"Stop bein' such a drama queen, Salamander." Gajeel growled.

"I'm…NOT!" Natsu managed.

"It feels so nice to be out here." Yukino stated. "The breeze, the ocean, the sun…"

"LOOK!" Lucy shouted and pointed up ahead. A green little island with sandy beaches appeared in the midst of the ocean.

"Land ho!" Sting shouted enthusiastically. "We've reached Caracall Island!"


	21. Field Trip part 2

The group lugged their bags onto the wooden dock. They were finally here, Caracall Island! Natsu dropped to his knees.

"Oh dear land, my sweet land!" Natsu hugged the ground.

"Get up you drama queen. We really should've stayed for Theatre class." Lucy lifted her boyfriend off the ground.

"Sandy beaches!" Levy thrust her bag at Gajeel and ran to the sand, where she mounted up piles of sand into sandcastles.

"Damn it Shrimp, I'm not your horse!" Gajeel shouted. But Yukino did the same to Sting and ran off to join Levy.

"Girls these days." Sting shook his head.

"Ok kids. Now that we're here, feel free to start your adventures." Mr. Conbolt announced. But save some for tomorrow, you'll be spending quite some time on this island. At 8:30, everyone must be on the beach. We will be roasting marshmallows and searching for constellations. Meanwhile, have fun!" The entire junior year cheered loudly and ran to the inn. There was one big building in the center and the rooms were all straw huts separated from the register

"Levy, Yukino, let's check into our huts and change into our swimsuits." Lucy said.

"Great idea!" Levy bounced up and down.

"Oi, oi, don't forget the five of us." Gajeel shouted but they were already off. By the time they returned, they held five keys.

"Since there's an odd number of boys and girls, two of us have to sleep alone." Levy stated.

"I could do it." Yukino said and grabbed her key.

"And a boy?" Lucy held up another key.

"I'll do it." Loke snatched his key from Lucy's hand.

"So since Lu and I are sharing a hut, you two have to pair up." She pointed to the four remaining boys.

"I think I'll stick with shadow boy here." Gajeel slapped Rogue's back.

"Then I'm stuck with Sting." Lucy tossed the key to Natsu.

"Actually, I think those would be better choices. I mean, you know what happens when you put those two numbskulls in a room together." Levy had a horrible flashback to last year's field trip.

"Now what are you guys waiting for? Let's change into our swimsuits!" The eight of them charged to the huts like wild boars. Lucy and Levy rushed down the path looking for their hut. When they found it, they turned the key in the lock of their room and swung the door open.

"Whoa!" Lucy's eyes beamed with amazement. There were two twin beds with silky white sheets and a silky curtains that swayed in the room. There were Hawaiian flowers all on the walls, different collections of seashells framed and hung on the wall and the room had a beautiful view of the beach.

"Lucy, you change in the bathroom, I change in the bedroom." Levy plumped her bag on the nearest bed and Lucy slammed the door of the bathroom behind her. The bathroom was so clean with beautiful little shampoo and conditioner bottles and the bathtub was so cute; round and small. Lucy dug through her bag for her bikini, it was light blueish-white with pink Hawaiian flowers in the corner of the top and bottom. She stepped out of the bathroom after changing. Levy was already in her orange and white striped bikini.

"I'll bring my purse so we can put the key in there." Lucy grabbed her small pretty pink purse.

"Good idea! And don't forget your phone!" Levy replied. They locked the door and rushed down the stairs. Yukino was already on the beach in her blue lacy swimsuit building sandcastles. They ran over to the beach. Lucy dropped her purse on the sand and lay on her back.

"Ah, the sand is so soft!" She sighed. She turned around to look at her oxygen tank and then closed her eyes. The sun was warm on her half bare body and the air was hot and fresh. Lucy opened her eyes to see Natsu in his red swimming trunks standing over her.

"Wake up, sleepyhead." He lifted her up in his arms.

"Natsu! Wait!" She quickly grabbed the handle of her wheelie bag before being tossed to the shallow area of the sea.

"Natsu!" Sting shouted running from behind in long red swim trunks with Rogue tying up his black hair and following behind him. "Can't you see she has a cannula?!"

"Relax, Sting. I'm barely even that wet." Lucy giggled. "But still…" She scooped a puddle of sea water in her hands and splashed Natsu.

"Hey!" Natsu shouted.

"That's what you get for throwing me into the water!" Lucy continued to splash Natsu.

"Swim race?" Sting grinned at Natsu.

"You bet." Natsu grinned back. The two stood in ready position, ready to sprint into the water and swim like sharks. Lucy stood up, ready to start the race.

"On your marks, get set, GO!" She screamed. Natsu and Sting sprinted until the water reached their thighs and dived into the sea.

"I'm gonna pummel you, Salamander!" Sting screamed as he freestyled as fast as he could.

"We'll see about that!" Natsu screamed back and freestyled faster. Lucy giggled at the sight and turned back to see Gajeel, Levy and Yukino burying a sunbathing Rogue in the sand. Levy turned his figure to be the shape of a mermaid, Yukino added the scales of the tail nicely, Loke gave the mermaid perfectly done F-cup breasts and Gajeel put seashells on them and placed Rogue's hands underneath them as if he liked to touch them.

"Guys, what the heck?!" Lucy spluttered and snapped a photo of Rogue-mermaid. Then turned back to man the swim-battle. The two were on par in speed and determination, but were starting to take extreme measures.

"Die you, Natsu!" Sting screamed and jumped on top of Natsu, punching his head.

"Get off of me, you jump-on-top-er person!" Natsu screamed back and punched his stomach. Lucy rolled her eyes, pulled the straps out of her wheelie bag and over her shoulder and wadded into the sea until the water reached her thighs.

"Guys! Do I have to remind you that this is a race of swimming and not stupidity? Somebody could get hurt and what's most important is that you come look at Rogue-mermaid!" Lucy started to splutter with laughter.

"Say what?" Sting pushed himself off of Natsu and ran as fast as he could to see what his half-sister was talking about with Natsu following him. They took one look at Rogue-mermaid and fell to the floor holding their stomachs.

"Good job, you guys! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Natsu wiped his eyes.

"We have to put this on Instagram." Sting snapped a picture of Rogue-mermaid. But just as the sound of the phone was made, Rogue stirred.

"What's going on?" He looked at his sand-body and screamed. "What the fuck, you guys!" He immediately shook off the sand and looked back down on his body. "Great, now my top half is tan and the rest is all pale! I look like Ross from Friends! Tell me you didn't post that on Instagram!"

"I did, sorry. And you got a reply from Tyla!" Sting laughed. Rogue snatched his phone and looked at the screen.

 _ **-Sting_Ucliff-:**_ _Beauty isn't always as it seems… #roguemermaid_

 _Comments:_

 _ **Tylaqueen_bae;):**_ _Wow, lol, #prettylilgirl #sassy that pose though :D_

Rogue stared at the screen in disbelief. His friend just called him a 'pretty lil girl'. Gajeel laughed and slapped his back.

"Score." Gajeel clicked his tongue and winked at the terrified half-tan previous merman.

"Why would you do this to me?" Rogue screamed and dropped to his knees.

"Um, a bit over the top, don't you think?" Levy raised an eyebrow.

"He'd do very well in Theatre class." Loke whispered with his arms crossed.

"Chill, man. It's not like any dude would look good in a mermaid body made of sand and seashells." Sting spluttered and turned to Gajeel. "By the way, nice seashells."

"You're welcome." Gajeel replied proudly.

"C'mon, Rogue, let's go try some of the Star Mangoes over there." Sting dragged his traumatized half-tan friend to a stand with star-shaped mangoes. Lucy grabbed her purse and the rest followed them.

"Welcome to Caracall Island." The man at the stand said with a smile. "Where are you kids from?"

"Magnolia. We're here on school trip." Natsu replied as the man cut put the Star Mangoes on a plate along with eight cups of mango juice. The man was bald except for a dark beard and a warm smile. He wore a red Hawaiian shirt.

"Magnolia you say…" He sighed as if the sound of the city was nostalgic.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked.

"Nothing, it's just I grew up there. It was quite the nice city." He replied.

"Well actually…" Sting pointed to Rogue and Yukino. "We're not from Magnolia, we're exchange students attending their school."

"Really? What school are you kids from?" He asked.

"Saber Tooth Academy." Rogue replied.

"Saber Tooth Academy, you say. My friend used to teach there. Do you by any chance knew a Mr. Fingers?"

"Mr. Fingers? Yeah, he was our P.E. teacher in 7th grade. He was a really fun one, everyone loved the man." Yukino replied. "But then one day, he told us he had to leave and nobody knew why."

"Principal Jiemma fired him." The man replied solemnly. "Even I don't know the reasons." Natsu, Lucy and the other Fairy Tail Academy students in their group looked at each other pitifully.

"Let's change the subject. These mangoes are delicious." Levy said cheerfully.

"Ah, you think so?" The man suddenly cheered up.

"I'm not a big fan of mangoes but this is delicious!" Loke remarked.

"Why thank you." The man was obviously much happier than before. They chatted and laughed with the man at the stand until it was getting cold and the sun was dipping behind the horizon.

"Look you guys! The sunset is so beautiful!" Yukino pointed to the giant orange ball in a pink and marmalade sky. The swimsuit-clad group ran to the beach, not before paying the kind man, and sat on the still-warm sand.

"Wow…" Lucy snapped a picture on her phone.

"You never get amazing sunsets like these in Magnolia." Natsu sighed and put an arm around Lucy.

"Ah, it's so romantic." Levy gushed.

"If only I had a lady to share it with." Loke said sadly.

"Deal with it, playboy." Gajeel gave him a hard poke in the head. After the sun officially disappeared behind the horizon, they all returned to their huts, chatting getting ready for the marshmallow roasting.

"It's been a great trip so far." Lucy grinned and put on her grey running shorts and pink t-shirt.

"Lu, we've barely just got here." Levy replied and put on her orange short-sleeved sweatshirt and black leggings.

"I know, I know, but it's just so fun." Lucy squealed.

"We still have another night to go, you know." Levy stated.

"Yeah, thanks a lot you party pooper." Lucy rolled her eyes.

Levy giggled. "I'm just kidding, I'm stoked as well. I really wanna go see those caverns I read about a few days earlier. Not to mention I also brought a tour guide." Levy pulled a dictionary-thick book.

"What the…Levy, I love books just as much as you do but this is an island!" Lucy sighed and opened the door and raced to the bonfire, where most students were already there. Lucy and Levy sat on a log with Sting, Rogue, Yukino and Loke who were already holding sticks with marshmallows to the fire.

"Kids, marshmallows are over here in this bag." He called to the other few students who were on their way over. Lucy and Levy grabbed their sticks and jabbed three marshmallows on the stick. They held it over the fire.

"How come the stars aren't out yet?" Sting whined.

"Because there's a fire, which means light. If this light was out, we'd be able to see stars." Lucy replied. "Just as they say, the brightest stars shine in the darkness."

"That's right." Sting sighed and looked back to the fire.

"By the way, where are Natsu and Gajeel?" Levy asked.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"I was there first!"

"No I was!"

"That marshmallow is mine!" Two familiar voices not far from the group bickered. A boy with pink hair and another with long spiky black hair head-butted each other.

"Ugh, even with different roommates those doofuses are trying to strangle each other." Loke sighed and munched on marshmallows.

"Oi, if you two boys can't behave yourselves, no marshmallows for you!" Lucy shouted.

"Yes ma'am." Natsu said obediently.

"Ugh, only Levy can boss me around." Gajeel whined and stabbed his marshmallows with his stick.

"Then I shall eat all your marshmallows, you big lug." Levy snatched his stick.

"Ok." Gajeel behaved himself.

"Good boy." Levy gave him back his stick. Natsu all of a sudden lifted up his stick. Three flaming marshmallows, which sat like sunrays, were on his stick.

"Natsu! What did you do to your marshmallows?!" Lucy screamed.

"I don't know but this is FREAKIN' AWESOME!" Natsu laughed maniacally.

"That's enough, Mr. Dragneel!" Ms. Evergreen said sternly. "Shake off the fire THIS INSTANT!" Natsu rolled his eyes and shook off the fire. Now, on his stick, sat black crispy balls. With a thick layer of tissues on his hand, he tossed the three marshmallows into the fire and leaned over to eat Lucy's.

"Oi, Natsu!" Lucy glared.

"Can you pass me three marshmallows?" He asked.

"Do it yourself, Lazy." Lucy retorted. Natsu stuck out his bottom lip and stuck three more marshmallows onto his stick.

"Hey guys, let's tell horror stories!" Laki said evilly.

"Please no." Levy slapped her forehead.

"Hmm, good idea." Minerva smirked. "And I have a perfect horror story for tonight."

"Natsu, save me." Lucy clung onto his arm as Minerva cleared her throat.

"Once upon a time in a boarding school, there were two girls who were the best of friends. One of them had a boyfriend. They were so happy together, until he cheated on her. So then the girl went to give him a piece of her mind, but was never seen again."

"Not that scary." Natsu said.

"Let her keep going." Lucy replied.

"But then one by one, students stopped sleeping at the school believing the school to be haunted by the girl's ghost. Her friend, though, stayed at the school. One night, while sleeping soundly in her bed, she got a phone call."

"Oh no, not the _phone call._ " Yukino cuddled her knees shivering.

"So then she picked it up and guess what she heard." Minerva held out her thumb and pinkie and held it to her ear like a phone. " _Best friend, back to back. Best friend, back to back._ The girl's friend, I'll call her Miranda and I'll call the disappeared one Kayla. Miranda didn't think much of it and hung up the phone. But then she got the call again with the same message: _Best friend, back to back. Best friend, back to back._ Miranda was starting to get scared. So she decided that the next time this person called, she would record it. So this person called and she recorded it. Then she listened to it to make sure it was recorded right. Yes, it was ok, so she went to find someone."

"Oh my god this keeps getting worse." Kinana shivered.

"Listening to horror stories is manly!" Elfman roared, but everybody could tell he was completely frightened.

"So she found a janitor lady who happened to be cleaning the halls and told her everything. She played the recording but…there was nothing. The janitor told her to stop joking around with her and just go back to sleep. Miranda went back to her room, really irritated. But then she got that same call again: _best friend, back to back. Best friend, back to back._ Miranda decided she couldn't stay anymore. So she got off her bed and reached under it to grab her suitcases, only to discover they were wet. They were all wet. And she looked at them, it was covered in blood. She called the janitor over and when she came, she freaked out and went to call the police. Miranda looked for the source of the blood so she looked under her bed. And guess what she saw?" Minerva glared evilly with her torch under her chin for extra effect.

"What did she see?" Laki asked excitedly.

"A body, stapled to the back of the bed!" Minerva shouted, freaking out everyone, especially Elfman. "And when Miranda looked closely at the face of the body, she saw the face of her best friend Kayla."

"Eek! I'll never be able to sleep on a bed again!" Lucy screamed. More horror stories were told as the night went on, mostly by Laki and Minerva. Even Erza joined in. Elfman always tried to stay calm but he was sweating and snot trickled out of his nose.

"That's enough, Laki and Minerva." Mr. Conbolt chuckled. He held a bucket of water in his hands, ready to put out the fire.

"We've asked the facilities to put out as many streetlamps as possible. I'm going to put out the fire now." The students lay on the beach in a single file as the fire disappeared with a sizzling sound but nobody cared. Everyone's eyes widened at the sight they beheld.

"WHHHOOOOOOAAA!" Everybody gasped. In the midnight sky were billions and billions of sparkling stars.

"So beautiful!" Lucy whispered.

"It's like diamonds shining endlessly…" Erza sighed.

"I wish I could take a photo…" Yukino pouted. Natsu and Lucy looked at each other, they were listening to Diamonds by Rihanna. Natsu took Lucy's hand and they looked back up at the night sky.

"Look, a shooting star!" Lucy shouted and pointed to the magical streak of light that flew right through like a high-speed magic spell.

"Make a wish everybody!" Levy said. They all put their hands together and closed their eyes. After everyone made a wish, they all looked back up at the diamond mine.

"Can anybody find the constellation Orion?" Mr. Conbolt asked.

"I know! Those three stars in a row are his belt, that orange star is called Betelgeuse and that's his armpit." Levy stated. "Now if you line those up, you get…"

"That's right, the constellation Orion." Mr. Conbolt said. "Can anybody find any other constellation?"

"There's my all-time favourite constellation, Leo." Loke said. "And that giant star is Regulus at the bottom right of the constellation. On the left side is Leo Minor."

"Very good, Loke." Mr. Conbolt replied. "Now can anybody tell me where Ursa Major and Ursa Minor?"

"Right over there." Jellal pointed. "The tail of Draco separates them."

"I wish I could stay under this night sky forever." Lucy whispered.

"Me too." Natsu whispered back.

* * *

 **Aw, isn't it kawaii? Anyway, please go to my profile and vote on the next story.**


	22. Field Trip part 3

"Oh my god, Natsu! You're crazy!" Lucy screamed and held onto Natsu for dear life as he jerked the control bar. The sail of their glider was orange and yellow like the sun. There were two seats in the compartment and a propeller spun at the back of the glider like a plane. One pocket sat on the control bar to put one of their phones on. Lucy had her wheelie bag on her shoulders and she clung onto Natsu as he made another sharp turn.

"What do you know, Lucy. This is fun." Natsu grinned. Sting and Yukino's glider came up right next to them.

"Dude Natsu, this is FRICKIN' AWESOME!" Sting shouted gleefully while Yukino tried to keep her elegant white and blue dress from flying up.

"Shrimp here looks like she's about to be blown away." Gajeel from his glider grinned widely.

"Oi, these seats are like, giant! Two Gajeels could fit in here!" Levy retorted.

"There are seatbelts, you know!" Gajeel shot back.

"I know, I know!" Levy rolled her eyes.

"Wendy would've loved this, she's always wanted to go gliding." Natsu replied and attempted a barrel roll, which Lucy clung onto him for.

"After I tell her about this, her dream will be shattered." Lucy panted.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!" Natsu and Lucy turned their heads to Rogue and Loke's glider. The shadow boy who didn't usually talk was now clinging onto the orange-haired woman lover for dear life.

"I now know why all the girls are driven away from you, you reckless man-killer!" Rogue screeched.

"Well it's not like Fairy Tail Academy has gliders in the soccer field!" Loke retorted.

"Shut the fuck up!"

"Says the weirdo who's hugging me!"

"You're making me!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!" The rest of the group looked at the two boys bickering.

"Gihihi, I hear wedding bells in the future." Gajeel said smugly.

"How often does Rogue even talk at Saber Tooth?" Natsu asked.

"Once a millennia." Sting replied.

"Gotcha." Natsu chuckled evilly as they continued to glide through the sky.

"Wow! Look at the ocean, Natsu!" Lucy raised her finger to the endless blue sea of sparkles. The way the waves went up and down, it was like a wind blowing into a beautiful blue cloth.

"Yeah, it's beautiful." Natsu sighed. Lucy smiled and looked forward.

Then she screamed. "Natsu! Watch out!"

"Oh shit!" Natsu quickly did a sharp turn, dodging Gajeel and Levy's glider.

"I can't believed the register guys were concerned about you manning a glider, you're so good." Lucy panted.

"Oi! It was you who almost got us killed!" Natsu retorted.

"I just wanted you to look at the ocean, not crash into Gajeel and Levy!" Lucy shot back.

"That's exactly what almost got us killed!" Natsu shouted.

"Well then stop yelling at me before you crash into that cliff!" Lucy screeched and pointed up ahead of them. Natsu screamed like a girl and quickly did a sharp turn. The edge of the cliff barely grazed passed them as they glided away. Lucy was now clinging onto Natsu like a baby chimp. "I am never going gliding with you again."

"Well lucky for you, we're not coming back to Caracall Island, not by boat." Natsu panted.

"They don't have any roads or airports on this stranded island, you moron." Lucy playfully poked his head. "Now please, get us down before somebody else gets hurt."

"Yes ma'am. But one small problem." Natsu said.

"What?!" Lucy glared at him.

"I don't know how." He replied sheepishly. Lucy slapped the back of his head.

"Dude! They told you how to do it!" Lucy screamed.

"I know, but I totally forgot what they said!" Natsu panicked.

"Don't tell me we're stuck here forever!" Lucy panicked as well.

"I think we are, Lucy." Natsu bit his lip.

"Damn it, Natsu!" Lucy whimpered and gripped her boyfriend tight. "I don't wanna be stuck here forever!"

"Well I don't either!" Natsu whined. "Maybe we can ask the others if they know?"

"Good idea." Lucy sighed with relief as Natsu steered over to Gajeel and Levy's glider, where the tiny bluenette was furiously punching Gajeel.

"Yo Gajeel, do you know how to land the glider?" Natsu asked. Levy glared at him.

"Why else would I be punching him?" Levy replied. Natsu and Lucy exchanged glances of panic, then glanced back at the two.

"YOU DON'T KNOW?!" Lucy attempted to screech, but it came out as a breathy yell.

"I wasn't paying attention to that part, it was too boring!" Gajeel retorted.

"Oh my god, do Sting and Yukino know?" Lucy looked around for Sting and Yukino, who came into view.

"If he knew, I wouldn't be here to yell at him and call him an IDIOT!" Yukino replied and slapped the back of the blonde's head.

"Damn it! So we're stuck in the air like a bunch o' dumbass birds?!" Natsu screamed.

"Uh, pretty much." Sting thumped his head on the control bar multiple times, sending them plummeting to the deep blue sea.

"Sting! Watch out!" Yukino squealed. Sting lifted his head and then quickly grabbed the control bar, bringing them to safety. "Next time, I'm steering."

"There won't be a next time." Sting replied.

"Seriously though, what are we gonna do?" Lucy sighed. "I had so many things to do here."

"Me too! I wanted to see the deep sea caverns, go dolphin watching…" Levy said.

"Not to mention go surfing." Sting added.

"I know what to do." Loke said smartly.

"Acting like that while Rogue is clinging onto you though…" Sting sweat-dropped.

"What the fuck, Sting! I hate Loke being reckless ok?! Besides I wanna be wide awake for any sand boobies!" Rogue retorted.

"Just get us down now, Loke!" Sting screamed.

"It's not that hard. Just go down to the dock and when you're about to land, slowly turn off the engine so you land safely." Loke replied.

"Oh, that's right." Lucy looked over Natsu's shoulder to look at the engine.

"Let's get down now!" Rogue punched Loke's head as the two dropped down and landed safely at the port. Sting and Yukino followed them, along with Gajeel and Levy, then Natsu and Lucy.

"Ah, it's such a relief now that we're on the ground!" Yukino sighed.

"It was nice being in the air but sometimes we just have to come back down to earth." Lucy said sadly.

"We should go to the deep sea caverns now!" Natsu said enthusiastically.

"Sure." Lucy replied and pulled out a map. "So let's see…we're on the south side of the island…let's head west." The group followed the blonde as they walked over sandy beaches and over boulders. Lucy looked up from the map to see deep sea caverns with entrances that led to darkness.

"Um, I almost regret coming." Sting shivered.

"Relax, you wimp. It's only a dark cavern." Rogue replied.

"Ugh, easy for you to say. You practically LIVE in the shadows." Sting punched Rogue's arm. Rogue grabbed him and dragged him into the deep dark cavern.

"Stop being such a coward and get in here." Rogue retorted. The others exchanged glances of speechlessness and followed the group. Lucy regretted entering the deep sea caverns as soon as they walked in. In the background, dripping noises were made and only one torch illuminated the path.

"This is getting worse and worse." Lucy shivered. "It's dark, it's cold and it looks like some random dead person stapled to the back of a bed could pop out." She sighed as they turned a corner.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" A random face with a torch under its chin popped out of nowhere and glared at them in the eyes.

"EEK! WHAT THE FUCK!" Sting jumped on top of Yukino, who toppled over onto Rogue, who tripped and ran into Gajeel, who grabbed Levy's mini-skirt for support, who freaked out and fell over. Lucy and Loke jumped on top of Natsu. The perpetrator glanced at her results and laughed.

"You guys are so amusing!" She laughed.

"Wait a second, I know that voice!" Natsu shone the torch at the perpetrator; a scarlet haired girl laughing wildly appeared in the light. "Erza!"

"Hi guys." She still couldn't contain her laughter.

"Erza! What the heck was that for?!" Lucy shouted and climbed off of Natsu.

"Just some fun we've been wanting to do for some time." Erza replied. "You guys should come check this out." She walked off to this pool of water her groupmates were standing around and staring in awe at. Lucy looked up to see what was above the pool: a few stalactites hung on the ceiling of the caverns. She looked down at the pool of water and gasped. The stalactites on the ceiling reflected in the water in the shape of an underwater kingdom. Lucy reached out to touch the water, only for it to gently ripple the beautiful reflection.

"They're so beautiful." Yukino gasped.

"I know right." Levy gushed.

"It looks so real…" Natsu whispered.

"If only this city was real…" Sting sighed.

"Eh, I'm actually from a place like that. This is nothing compared to Celestial." Loke scoffed. Everyone standing around the pool glared at him. Loke turned to the faces and said sheepishly, "But I am wrong."

"I wonder if we get to see more stalactites and stalagmites in these caverns." Lucy wondered as the two groups walked further down.

"It seems really interesting though." Levy pulled out her thick guidebook and flipped through it.

"My, my, Levy. That looks more like an accordion instead of a book." Erza chuckled as Levy flipped through the many thousand pages to the Deep Sea Caverns chapter.

"Ca (HCO3)2 is known as calcium bicarbonate, and the water carries the substance, basically dissolved calcite, through the cracks of the roof of a cave. Once water comes into contact with the air inside the cave, however, some of the calcium bicarbonate is transformed back into calcium carbonate, and calcite starts to form around the crack. As water continues to drip, the length and thickness of the calcite grows, and eventually a stalactite forms on the ceiling. It can take a very long time for most stalactites to form - they usually grow anywhere between a quarter-inch and an inch every century." Levy cited. "It doesn't end there - we haven't talked about stalagmites yet. Of course, stalagmites don't just emerge from the ground. The water dripping from the end of a stalactite falls to the floor of a cave and deposits more calcite into a mound. Soon enough, a stalagmite will form in a cone-like shape. This is why you usually find stalactites and stalagmites in pairs, and sometimes they'll even grow together to form one big column. **"** **[A/N sources for this guidebook listed bellow]**

"Looks like these old caverns have some history." Lucy said.

"I think I just fell asleep." Gajeel groaned.

"Shut up, these caverns are amazing!" Levy whacked Gajeel on the head with the thick guidebook.

"Ow! Didn't know you could carry something that heavy!" Gajeel rubbed the back of his head, only to get another whack.

"This is fun. Am I right, Rogue?" Sting looked around for his pal. "Rogue? Where did you go?" Two arms appeared out of the shadows and wrapped around Sting's neck.

"Best friend, back to back." A voice whispered his hear. Sting screamed like a little girl and pushed the culprit off. He slammed his eyes shut and fought thin air, the black-haired boy raised an eyebrow at his friend's cowardliness.

"He was right not to bring himself into the caverns." Rogue rolled his eyes. "Let's get out of here, I see the exit over there."

"Yes, you are right. We must get the hell outta here." Loke said as the two of the dragged Sting out of the shadows and into the light.

"Oh my god, finally we're out of that hellhole!" Sting sighed.

"Now let's go dolphin watching!" Lucy dusted her tank-top and denim shorts.

"Is it on a boat?" Natsu asked.

"Well, duh! Where else would we go dolphin watching?" Sting slapped him on the back. Natsu's eyes widened as he tried to slip away.

"Don't even think about it." Lucy grabbed the back of his orange and white t-shirt. "Let's go then." Gajeel grinned and the group followed him to the dock. They boarded onto a beautiful white yacht and sailed off.

"Uhhhhhghghhhhh…" Natsu moaned and leaned over the bar.

"It's ok, Natsu. All you gotta do is look at the pretty dolphins." Lucy patted his back and turned his baseball cap backwards.

"Dolphins. Dolphins are well known for their agility and playful behavior, making them a favorite of wildlife watchers. Many species will leap out of the water, spy-hop (rise vertically out of the water to view their surroundings) and follow ships, often synchronizing their movements with one another. Scientists believe that dolphins conserve energy by swimming alongside ships, a practice known as bow-riding. Dolphins live in social groups of five to several hundred. They use echolocation to find prey and often hunt together by surrounding a school of fish, trapping them and taking turns swimming through the school and catching fish. Dolphins will also follow seabirds, other whales and fishing boats to feed opportunistically on the fish they scare up or discard." Levy cited.

"Seriously, Shrimp. Ye gotta learn to relax." Gajeel rolled his eyes. Levy made a noise and elbowed him.

"It's so windy out here." Yukino held her dress.

"Well if you knew that, why did you wear the flimsy old dress?" Sting rolled his eyes. And what's with those black tights and white boots? It's pretty warm out here."

"Hey, I have my own style." Yukino retorted.

"You guys, look!" Loke pointed to the sea. The others all hung over the rail to get a better look at what he was pointing at.

"Whoa." Rogue blinked. Bunches of grey dolphins jumped out of the water and squeaked cheerfully.

"WOOOOWWWWW!" They all took out their phones and snapped thousands of pictures.

"They're so cute." Yukino gushed.

"Not as cute as you." Loke lifted his eyebrows. Sting glared at him and punched his face as hard as he could.

"Dude, this is my _girlfriend_!" Sting shouted. Loke held his face and glared back.

"I know." Loke said sarcastically and got up.

"Now, now boys, let's not ruin this amazing day." Lucy said and snapped more pictures.

"You know, what would be awesome?" Levy said.

"What?" Lucy turned her head to look at the bluenette.

"If we could grow tails and become mermaids. Then we could swim and jump to our hearts content." Levy sighed.

"Then the big white shark could come and rip that tail off." Gajeel swept Levy in his arms and tickled her.

"Gajeel! Stop it!" Levy giggled. The yacht came to a stop at the dock and they got off the boat and stepped on land once again.

"Land! Yes!" Natsu shouted and jumped off the boat.

"Now it's time to go surfing!" Sting stripped off his t-shirt.

"I just realize you were wearing your swim trunks." Rogue sighed.

"So was I!" Natsu ripped off his shirt.

"Me too!" Loke elegantly took off his shirt.

"Oi! Ye numbskulls always forget me." Gajeel joined the others in taking off his shirt.

"Since we're at the beach and all…" Lucy, Levy and Yukino exchanged glances and stripped out of their clothes. "Let's go!" They threw their clothes in the air and playfully ran to the beach.

"They had their bikinis underneath?!" Natsu, Gajeel, Sting and Loke's jaws dropped.

"Why am I the only one who didn't bring their swimsuit!" Rogue shouted and beckoned Gajeel to give him the hut key. Gajeel tossed it to Rogue and he ran off to change into his swim trunks. The four boys rented surfboards and floated on the water staring at the girls splashing water at each other.

"So now we're just a few perverts waiting for a wave?" Natsu looked at the three.

"Nope, looks like a manly one just joined." Sting replied as Rogue paddled to them on his surfboard.

"Guys, I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure it's low tide this season. Aren't we just being five idiots sitting on the water?" Rogue said. Just then, a large wave loomed over them. The four boys glared at Rogue.

"You were saying?" Sting raised an eyebrow at the now sheepish Rogue. They exchanged glances. "Let's go!" They all jumped to their feet and began surfing through the water on their boards.

"WHOOOOOOOOOO!" Natsu cheered and pulled off an aerial.

"Nice, man." Sting laughed and pulled one off as well.

"Ye amateurs will never surpass me!" Gajeel grabbed the side of his board and did two aerials. Rogue smirked and pulled off a triple maneuver.

"You immature boys." Loke flipped his orange hair and stood on the board like a model. The other boys all sweat-dropped. Loke opened his eyes to see that he lost balance and fell into the water. When his head popped out of the water, the other four cracked up laughing.

"I should have recorded that!" Gajeel wiped his eyes as the wave died down.

"Ugh, I just lost my balance." Loke retorted and climbed back onto the surfboard, shaking his head like a wet dog.

"Seriously that was awesome." Natsu grinned. "Let's wait for another one." On the beach, the three girls had ordered drinks and were lounging on the lounge chairs like swagger. There were no umbrellas, so their skin was exposed to the sunlight; perfect for a tan.

"Ah, this is the life." Levy sighed. "Just relaxing while watching cute guys surf and fail."

"I know, right? It's awesome being here." Lucy sipped on her juice.

"Should I be worried that Loke is staring at us?" Yukino held her legs tight. Lucy gave Loke the kill sign before pretending to shoot him. Loke cowered and went back to waiting for a wave.

"Loke, stop staring at my girlfriend!" Sting thumped him on the head.

"SO-RRY!" Loke rolled his eyes.

"Here comes another one, and this one's bigger than the one before!" The five of them paddled to the wave and jumped to their feet. They screamed and cheered as they nailed aerials and maneuvers. The wave was longer than expected. Natsu, Gajeel, Rogue and Loke tired out and paddled back to the beach but Sting stayed longer. As the wave spiraled into a tube, Sting surfed right into it.

 _Heh, those weaklings will never be able to surpass me._ He thought arrogantly. He then spotted something grey in the wave swimming towards him. Sting glanced at it. Was it a dolphin? No, it didn't look like one. _Oh shit, it's a shark!_ Sting lost his balance and tumbled into the water. His surfboard flew into the air, with no Sting on it. The rest of the group gaped at it.

"Where's Sting?!" Yukino gasped and covered her mouth. The seven of them gathered around the edge of the sea. A tuft of blonde hair emerged from the deep blue sea.

"Help me! Shark!" He tried to freestyle to shore but sank into the sea. Mr. Conbolt and the others must have heard because they all gathered around the beach, but Mr. Conbolt held them all back.

"Nobody enter the water! Ms. Evergreen, call a lifeguard now!" He shouted. Lucy ripped off her cannula and dived into the ocean. "Ms. Heartfilia! Get back this instant!"

"Lucy!" Natsu tried to follow her but Mr. Conbolt restrained him.

"Don't you get into the water too, Mr. Dragneel." Mr. Conbolt growled.

"But Lucy…"

"She is responsible for her own actions!" Mr. Conbolt replied sternly. Lucy swam deep under the water where a shark was viciously gnawing on her half-brother's leg. Lucy stabbed the shark in the eye with her long toenail. It growled in pain, which gave Lucy time to grab Sting and swim for air. Lucy couldn't breath, so she had to swim for the shore as fast as she could.

"Lucy…" Sting coughed up some sea water.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Lucy replied as she gasped for air. Luckily they were close to the shore. Just then, Sting started screaming in pain and the shark started pulling him down. Lucy tried to hold him, but her vision was getting foggier and she was afraid of ripping Sting's leg off.

"Get off my friends, you fucking bastard!" A familiar pinkette jumped into the water.

"Natsu." Lucy gasped as the pressure was released and Lucy could drag Sting to the shore. Natsu held the shark's jaw for as long as he could. He looked up to see Lucy and Sting swim to the shore. He grinned and turned back to the shark. Natsu gave the shark a sucker punch in the face and a vicious kick in the stomach. The shark yelped in pain and Natsu quickly joined Lucy and helped her drag Sting to the shore. Lucy collapsed on the sand. Natsu saw this and quickly inserted the cannula in her nose.

"Lucy? Lucy are you ok?!" Natsu shook her, then turned to a groaning Sting. "How's your leg?"

"Yeah, thanks for jumping in to save me." Sting replied.

"Lucy did most of it. And now I'm worried." Natsu shook her violently as Mr. Conbolt, their group and the lifeguards ran towards them. Lucy gasped and sat up abruptly.

"Lucy! You're ok!" Natsu sighed with relief and gave her a tight hug. Then quickly pulled her away and stared at her in the eye. "Don't you ever do something like that again! You had me worried sick! Do you know how worried I was?!"

"I'm sorry. But no one else was gonna do it." Lucy gasped for air as the lifeguards laid down a rescue board.

"Ms. Heartfilia, that was reckless of you." Mr. Conbolt said sternly to Lucy as they hauled Sting away.

"I know, Mr. Conbolt." Lucy stared down at the sand.

"But you saved a life, and that's all that matters." Mr. Conbolt's face lightened. "Now are you sure you are alright?"

"Yes I'm sure, I just need to catch my breath for a bit." Lucy gasped. With wobbling legs, she stood up. "Let's go see if Sting's ok." Lucy put her arm over Natsu's shoulder for support and they went to the infirmary.

"Lu! You ok?" Levy ran to her.

"Yeah, I guess." Lucy sighed.

"That was badass of you." Gajeel said.

"No, that was dangerous." Loke glared at Gajeel.

"Well now that that's all ok, let's go check on Sting." Rogue said and they followed him to the infirmary

* * *

The entire junior year gathered around a stage where hula dancers were dancing out a story. Sting sat on a chair and stared solemnly at the grass-skirts and leis. A white bandage was wrapped tightly around his shin and his crutches lay on the side.

"Hey Sting, how do you feel right now?" Yukino stood behind a chair and wrapped her arms around Sting's neck.

"Yeah, just fine." Sting replied in a monotone voice.

"It's ok, Sting." Yukino said, reading his mind. "Lot's of people get bitten by sharks and some people even die."

"I still feel down, though." Sting stated. Yukino bent down to look at Sting in the eye.

"I'm glad you're still alright." Yukino smiled. Sting smiled back and they continued to watch the play. The man in the center held a stick with fire and stuck it into his mouth.

"This is freaking awesome!" Natsu shouted. Lucy looked at him and sighed with a smile. Their fun trip to Caracall Island has come to an end.

* * *

 **Work Cited (because I really don't know the stuff in Levy's guidebook so I copy-pasted information):**

 **How Stuff Works Science. "What's the difference between stalactites and stalagmites?" Retrieved: March 10th from, science. how stuff works. c o m**

 **Defenders of Wildlife. "Dolphin" Retrieved: March 11th from, w w w . defenders . o r g**


	23. New Surprises

"Natsu! Lucy!" Wendy ran from the car and jumped onto Natsu. "I'm so glad you guys are back."

"Oh I sure am." Natsu replied.

"Natsu, next time we're going on a boat, bring pills." Lucy glared at him. Natsu stuck his tongue out at Lucy and put Wendy down.

"Natsu, we're just going to sign off the teacher's list to make sure we've picked you up." Igneel said. "You three, get in the car." Natsu, Lucy and Wendy piled into the car after they got their bags into the back booth. The little bluenette sat in between the couple.

"How was Caracall Island?" She asked curiously.

"It was great. We went gliding and Natsu almost got us stuck in the air for life…"

"Can we not talk about that?" Natsu slapped his forehead.

"How was gliding? Was it awesome?" Wendy opened her eyes wide.

"It was so awesome to be up in the air. Except for when the driver likes to do barrel rolls and tries to kill you in the air." Lucy replied.

"I did not." Natsu retorted.

"Anyway, what else did you guys do?" Wendy asked.

"We toured the deep sea caverns there." Lucy replied.

"Ooh, did you see any ghosts?" Wendy asked.

"No, but Rogue pretended to be a ghost and freaked Sting out so bad." Natsu started laughing.

"Alright kids, time to go home." Igneel and Grandeeney climbed into the front.

"So how was the trip?" Grandeeney asked.

"It was awesome. But the best part of it was this!" Natsu pulled out the photo of Rogue-mermaid and showed it to Wendy.

"Oh my god!" Wendy covered her beet-red face. Natsu then showed the photo to his parents.

"Natsu…" Igneel shook his head.

"Oh and the dolphin watching was also pretty good." Lucy pulled out her phone and showed Wendy the photos.

"Wow, I wish I could go there." Wendy gushed.

"Well you are graduating from Cait Shelter Junior High soon. Maybe they decide to go to Caracall Island in your first year." Lucy said.

"Actually in freshman year in Fairy Tail, we don't really go anywhere that far." Natsu stated.

"Oh really? Where did you go for your freshman year?" Lucy asked.

"We went to Crocus." Natsu replied. "In our sophomore year, we went to Mr. Hakobe. Zeref said in senior year, they went to Arakitasia."

"Whoa, really? That's like way further than Caracall Island." Lucy gaped. They spent the rest of the way home chatting about the trip and Lucy showed Wendy all the photos they had. Soon they have returned back to their home, but there were two people at the door.

"Who's that?" Natsu asked. As they moved closer, one was a man with dark hair and the other was a tiny girl with ankle-long blonde hair.

"Oh my god, that's Zeref and Mavis." Wendy replied.

"Wait, I thought Zeref broke up with Mavis." Lucy replied. "And is Mavis like, Wendy's age?"

"She's actually in her twenties." Natsu replied. They got out of the car and Igneel went to park it in the garage while the rest of them carried their bags to the front door. Zeref and Mavis turned around to see them.

"Oh hi mom, Wendy, Natsu…Lucy." Zeref greeted them.

"Hi. So this is Mavis?" Lucy asked.

"Hi there, Lucy." Mavis said cheerfully.

"So what brings you here, Zeref? I thought you were at the university." Grandeeney asked.

"Well…" Zeref glanced at Mavis, who nodded to him. "…what Mavis and I want to tell you guys is something really important. I think we're gonna wait for dad to come back."

"Ok then. Just let me open the door." Grandeeney pulled out her key and unlocked the door, letting everybody in. Everybody sat on the couch as Mavis and Zeref stood up in front. Igneel opened the door to the garage to see everybody waiting for what the two had to say.

"What's going on?" Igneel asked.

"Sit down, father." Zeref pointed to the armchair. Igneel, still confused, sat down.

"So, what is so important that you had to come here for? And with Mavis?" Grandeeney asked. Zeref sighed. Mavis put a hand on his but Zeref shook his head.

"Well, what I wanted to gather everyone here for today was because…well…" Zeref sighed. "Mavis is pregnant." Lucy gasped. Grandeeney and Igneel exchanged glances of shock while Natsu and Wendy's jaws completely dropped.

"Wait. So you mean to tell me that Mavis is pregnant…" Grandeeney started.

"With my baby. For two months already" Zeref said.

"With your baby for two months already." Grandeeney started to breath heavily.

"Well, Zeref just thought it would've been best if you knew about it now since he wasn't able to muster up the courage to tell you two months ago." Mavis stated. Her cheery tone from before was completely gone.

"Anyway, the two of us talked it over and…we're getting married." Zeref quickly spat it out as fast as he could. The rest of the family, including Lucy glanced at each other with looks of surprise.

"Well I have nothing left to say but congratulations." Lucy smiled.

"Thank you." Mavis smiled back, then looked at the others. Igneel sighed and stood up.

"We'll be supportive of you kids in any way possible." He said with a smile. Zeref stared at his father with shock as Grandeeney stood up.

"We will support you, but you have to think about how hard this will be." She stated. "I mean, financially. You do realize this will be difficult, right?"

"Well, of course." Zeref replied uncertainly.

"W-we will sort that out." Mavis reasoned. "I have a job at a bar called Red Lizard. The pay's pretty good. I'm pretty sure it'll be enough to support the baby."

"Such a responsible child." Grandeeney smiled. "And you, Zeref?"

"I just recently got a new job. I'm an assistant in a laboratory." Zeref replied.

"Oh my god, what do they do there?" Natsu was suddenly interested in the whole thing.

"Well, they're looking for a way to resurrect the dead." Zeref replied. "But that doesn't matter. All that matters is that we're able to support this baby."

"That's a relief. For a moment, I kinda thought that you won't be able to handle it." Lucy sighed.

"We'll be fine, Lucy. But thanks for caring about us." Mavis smiled. After dinner, it was decided that Zeref and Mavis would stay here until either the day of the wedding or they've found a place to stay, which ever came first. After Natsu got ready for bed, he sighed and turned to Lucy's room. He stood silently at her door and gently knocked, trying not to disturb the others.

"It's open." Came Lucy's soft voice. Natsu opened the door to see Lucy working on her novel. The blonde turned her head to Natsu, who sat on her bed and cuddled up to her with a down look. "What's wrong?"

"I just kinda feel everything is happening so fast, you know. Zeref and Mavis having a baby and now they're getting married. And next year, Wendy's graduating and going to Fairy Tail Academy soon. And then next year, in a couple of months, we're gonna have to be thinking about university and career paths." Natsu sighed. Lucy put down her novel and ruffled his soft pink hair.

"That's just what happens, Natsu. Life goes on way too fast when you're having so much fun that sometimes you don't even realize it. But Natsu, what really matters is that you handle every challenge in life in a sensible mature way, then you can smoothly go through your fast-paced life." Lucy replied with a smile on her face. Natsu looked up into her sparkling brown eyes.

"And you'll stick with me till the very end?" He asked hopefully.

"Of course." Lucy gave him a genuine smile. Natsu smiled back. He wrapped his arms around her waist and sank his cheek into her cushiony chest.

"I really want you to. I really need you to." He whispered. Lucy giggled and wrapped her arms around his head.

"It's all ok, Natsu. Oh by the way, are you going to school tomorrow?" Lucy asked. Natsu lifted his head.

"Ugh, I don't want to. But the good thing is, it's totally ok if we missed our homework since we only just got back from Caracall Island." Natsu gave her a toothy grin. Lucy sighed and giggled, Natsu will always be the same, no matter how much he aged.

* * *

"Turns out, it's not over yet. We have to do a report on Caracall Island." Erza told Natsu as the four of them; Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Erza, walked to the cafeteria.

"Are you kidding me? I thought Caracall Island was just a place where we can just get away from life." Natsu whined.

"But it was so damn hot, it was more like hell instead of paradise." Gray scowled.

"Says you, Ice Princess. You practically _live_ in an _ice block_! _"_ Natsu retorted.

"Excuse me, Lava Breath. _You_ live in a _volcano_!" Gray shot back.

"You wanna go, Elsa?!" Natsu growled.

"Oh believe me you, I do, Fire Brain!" Gray and Natsu slapped each other with their notebooks.

"Enough fighting, you imbeciles!" Erza hissed.

"Yes ma'am." Natsu and Gray said obediently. Just as they were chatting about midterms, a familiar white-haired girl appeared in the middle of the hall.

"Hmm? What is it, Lisanna?" Erza asked.

"I know I screwed up the last time. But can NaLi just happen one more time?" She pleaded.

"Ugh!" Natsu slapped his forehead. "Damn it, Lisanna. If I hear…"

* * *

 _"But Natsu, what really matters is that you handle every challenge in life in a sensible mature way, then you can smoothly go through your fast-paced life."_

* * *

Natsu sighed and looked at the ground. The other three looked at him with concern. Was he bursting with anger? Was he about to explode? Lisanna waited hopefully for his answer. He lifted his head up to face Lisanna once more. But instead of a red angry face popping with veins, it was a smile.

"I'm sorry to be the one to say this, Lisanna, but NaLi just didn't work out. Sure, what we had back then was fun and enjoyable and I don't blame you anymore for wanting to have it all back. But there was a reason why we broke up, and that reason was that the chemistry just wasn't right. There comes a time when we have to move on. It's time you found someone that will make a great couple with you, truly treasure you and love you as much as I love Lucy. I'm sorry, but you have to let go." Natsu said kindly and apologetically. Gray, Erza and Lisanna were completely mortified at his actions. Lucy crossed her arms and smiled.

 _"You grew up so much from that cute little weirdo you were from when I first met you."_ Lucy thought to herself proudly. Lisanna sighed.

"I'm sorry for chasing you around and trying to split you and Lucy up. I realize now how much she means to you." Lisanna whispered.

"She really does." Natsu glanced back at Lucy who smiled back at him.

"Thanks for the advice, Natsu. I'll try to be moving on, but what we had was so much fun." Lisanna sighed.

"It _was._ " Natsu emphasized on the 'was'. Lisanna smiled and turned away.

"Wait…so…no dramatic 'I hate you, Lisanna' or 'go to hell, Lisanna'?" Gray asked with his eyes still agape.

"Nope, I figured it was time to stop acting like a brat." Natsu smiled at him.

"I like this new attitude, Natsu. You're now officially a grownup." Erza grabbed his head and smacked it against her chest into a hug.

"C-c-can we just go to lunch?" Natsu gagged. Lucy giggled, even she was finding life a very hard-paced race.

* * *

The next couple of weeks were spent planning Zeref and Mavis's wedding. Mavis still hasn't grown big yet, so they decided to have a wedding as soon as possible so that number 1, Mavis would look adorable in a wedding dress and number 2, the baby would have a proper family when it would be born. As the weeks passed by, the day of Zeref and Mavis's wedding finally arrived.

"Aren't you excited?" Zera, Mavis's best friend, squealed as she brushed her friend's hair.

"Quite excited." Mavis replied. "And I'm so glad all of my bridesmaids were able to come."

"No problem. I'm just glad to be your bridesmaid." Cana grinned and applied blush onto Mavis's cheeks.

"Well it's only natural for me to make my family friend a bridesmaid. Other than Lucy, I only have Zera." Mavis replied.

"I'm actually curious as to why you decided to marry Zeref just because you guys are having a baby." Lucy said and dabbed lipstick onto Mavis's lips. Lucy put down to stick as Mavis began to rub her lips together to spread the lipstick.

"Actually, I've been having…feelings about him." Mavis blushed.

"Ooh, now you don't even need any more blush." Cana grinned.

"I think Zeref has feelings for you too. I mean, Natsu told me that he likes to stare at you when you're busy all squealing over centerpieces." Lucy smiled.

"He totally likes you, M." Zera grinned.

"Girls, we're talking about getting married here." Mavis tried to calm her bridesmaids.

"We know. It's just that you two decided to get married for the baby but now you three can be a proper family." Cana smiled.

"I guess we could." Mavis blushed even harder. Over on the groom's side, Zeref and his three groomsmen; Natsu, August and Invel, were talking about the same thing.

"Zeref, she totally likes you and you totally like her." Natsu assured his older brother.

"I don't know. What if she says no and decides I'm not good enough a father for his child?" Zeref fretted.

"You two decided this for yourself didn't you?" Invel asked.

"Well, yeah." Zeref replied.

"I don't know Mavis very well, but she seems like the kind of girl who would never break a promise." Invel stated.

"Ok, I'm just so nervous." Zeref sighed.

-Time skip to wedding-

"It's such a nice place, it's a shame you only invited your close friends and family members." Lucy sighed as they hid behind the door. Zeref was already standing under the arch. Bridesmaids and groomsmen were walking down the aisle, arm in arm. Natsu glanced at her dress.

"Wow, you look…" He was lost for words. Lucy looked at her dress, it was a light-pink strapless dress lined with sequins at the top and a sash over her shoulder.

"Save the gushes for the bride." Lucy hissed.

"It's ok, you both look adorable." Mavis giggled. Lucy glanced back at her simple loose white dress with a simple veil. In her hands, were a bouquet of pink roses. Natsu adjusted the bow tie on his neck.

"Let's go." Natsu held out his arm. Lucy linked her arm with his and walked down the aisle, slowly to the music.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Mavis and Zeref even like each other?" Lucy whispered. Natsu paused for a minute.

"Definitely. Why do you ask?" Natsu murmured.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later." Lucy replied as they went off to the sides. Mavis's father, Warrod, looked at his small daughter.

"You ready?" He asked.

"I should be the one asking you." Mavis replied with a cheeky grin. Warrod ruffled her hair, link arms with her and walked down the aisle. Everyone stood up when she arrived. Mavis scanned the audience with a smile, then turned her face to Zeref, who was staring at her with a dreamy smile. Halfway down the aisle, Warrod kissed Mavis's cheek but just as Mavis was about to head to the end, she was stopped by her father's tight grip on her arm. "Daddy?" She glanced back at her father, who sighed and reluctantly let go. Mavis and Zeref faced each other just as the minister was about to prepare his speech.

"Wow, you look…so beautiful." Zeref whispered.

"Thank you." Mavis blushed.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Zeref Dragneel and Mavis Vermillion and to be witnesses and supporters of the commitment they share with one another. Together we're a group of the most important people in their lives and they've brought us here to publically recognize that we've all played some special part in the love they share today." He stated. The minister rambled his speech on, but all Zeref and Mavis could hear were each others' heartbeats and all they could see were each others' gleaming eyes. "Vows please?" The couple's trance was woken by the minister. Zera, being maid of honour, passed Mavis the piece of paper.

"Uh, ok." Mavis opened up the piece of paper. "When I first met you, I always thought of you as someone from the crowd but we still managed to be friends. But then, as I got to know you, I really thought you would be someone I would spend my life with. I can't wait to raise this baby together." Mavis blushed at her horrible confession.

"That was great." Zera gave Mavis a thumbs-up. Zeref pulled his piece of paper from his piece of paper.

"Mavis, the same goes for me. I mean, when we're together, I'm sure this baby will be happy forever." Zeref's face turned rose-red as he slipped the piece of paper back in his pocket.

"The rings, please?" Wendy, the flower girl, passed the minister two rings. "Mavis, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The minister asked.

"I do." Mavis replied.

"Zeref, do you take this…" He looked at Mavis's tiny up and down. Mavis rolled her eyes. Her tiny body was really starting to give people the wrong impression. "Uh… _woman…_ to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." Zeref stared into Mavis's eyes.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Mavis wrapped her arms around Zeref's neck and gave him soft kiss on the lips. Everyone cheered.

"Did you know I had feelings for you?" Zeref whispered in her ear.

"I know. And I do too." Mavis whispered back. "But should we really call it love?"

"I don't know, we'll see where this goes." Zeref replied with a smile on his face. Mavis nodded and walked down the aisle. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were gathered at the end. Mavis turned around and took a deep breath, it was time the throw the bouquet. She gripped the bouquet tight, she could hear the anticipation of the bridesmaids and the groomsmen. She flung the bouquet over her shoulder and quickly turned around to see who caught it.

"Congratulations Lucy!" Grandeeney clapped her hands. Lucy stared at the bouquet, then at Natsu, who blushed like mad.

* * *

 **Hey friends, sorry I made this chapter focus a little more on Zeref and Mavis and so freaking late. And you guys, please go onto my profile and vote on the poll I have there. I have prepared every single story on that list and I will release the one with the most popular votes after I finish The Cause of Our Scars. And in case anyone has questions about when this story will finish, I actually don't know :D we'll see where this goes.**


	24. Finals

**Hi, friends! I am so sorry I have been lazy but lately I've been having serious writer's block! I updated my profile picture, do you like 3 ? Before you read my story, this note is a must-read.**

 **I don't know when I'm going to finish this story. It might be now or it might be a thousand centuries later. But when I do, I need every reader to choose oh which story they want me to write next. The poll is on my profile and the details are below. Anyway, don't sweat it, live in the moment and reeeaaaaddd 3**

 **And btw, I might be uploading one-chapter stories as a bunch of I'm really sorry presents.**

* * *

"So now then, you all know that the finals are coming up!" Mr. Conbolt grinned with an unusual amount of energy. The class groaned at this.

"Now they've done it." Cana growled.

"What?" Lucy turned to face her.

"Every time when finals come around, they make every single class a study hall with teachers prowling around like cats." Cana replied.

"There's a reason to why they're there, Cana. They're there to help." Levy replied.

"Oh yeah sure. And while I'm doing Algebra, Mr. Wakaba can peer over my shoulder and stalk me anytime." Cana replied sarcastically. Lucy sighed, there was no reasoning with Cana anyway.

"And every single time, it's on my birthday." Natsu sighed. That was when Lucy just realized she did not know his birthday.

"Now then, I would like everyone to go off to their classes and I want every top-scorer to tutor the others into doing better. For you new kids this year, the finals are on April 1st. Dismissed." Natsu and Lucy walked off to Algebra class.

"Every time final exams come around, it's on my birthday. And why does it have to be on April Fools day?" Natsu whined.

"Is that why people don't take you seriously?" Lucy teased.

"Wow, you're so helping." Natsu pouted. Mr. Wakaba stood outside of the classroom nonchalantly.

"You ready for some serious studying?" He grinned.

"Yes." Lucy replied politely.

"Eh." Natsu shrugged his shoulders. Natsu sat in his seat and Lucy tutored him.

"17 – 5(2x – 9) = – (–6x + 10) + 4. Tell me how you solve for x and each equation." Lucy said.

"Ok. So I first use the distributive property…that gives me17 – 10x + 45 = 6x – 10 +4, right?" Natsu looked up and Lucy for support.

"Yes. Keep going." Lucy replied.

"So I then combine like terms which gives me 17 + 45 – 10x = 6x – 10 + 4 which then gives me 62 + 10x = 6x – 14?"

"Actually, it's 62 + 10x = 6x – 6. If you take away 6x, it's –10 + 4 which gets you –6. then you get 62 + 10x = 6x – 6. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Lucy looked at Natsu.

"Oh, I see." Natsu replied.

"Do you know what to do now?" Lucy asked.

"I combine like terms?" Natsu confirmed.

"Yep yep." Lucy replied. Natsu wrote down the next step.

"Like this?" Natsu asked. Lucy glanced at it. 6x + 10x = 62 + 6.

"Yeah. Now you know what you get next." Lucy said.

"16x =68, so x is 4.25." Natsu looked at the problem Lucy wrote out for him and he solved. "I did it."

"Yeah. Now do the rest without my help." Lucy grinned.

"UUUUUUUUUUUUGHGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Natsu groaned.

* * *

Natsu slumped his face on the cafeteria table. Without Lucy's help, the questions seemed a thousand times harder. Lucy glanced at the pinkette and sighed.

"It can't be that bad." Lucy patted his head. "The only question you got wrong was the last one, where you started annoying me for answers."

"He what?" Gray looked over to her.

"Yeah, I mean he got tired after like four questions and started poking my arm asking me to give him the answer to the last question." Lucy sighed.

"Sorry." Natsu snuggled against Lucy's shoulder.

"Ugh. You're actually improving in other classes. So when we get home, I'll be giving you extra hard work." Lucy said sternly.

"Aw no." Natsu groaned. Truth be told, Lucy didn't want to as well. She needed to get Natsu a present after everything he'd done for her. Lucy needed to act quick. It was still a week before the midterms and Natsu's 17th birthday. Theater class was after lunch, taught by Mr. Freed Justine. They arrived inside the school theater and were seated in the audience. The theater was much bigger than Lucy thought it would be. There were beautiful red velvet curtains on a clean large black wooden stage. The seats in the audience were red that matched the curtains and a large balcony in the back.

"The theater is so big." Lucy sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Really? I feel like it used to be bigger." Natsu replied and put his feet on the seat in front of him.

"I feel like it's kinda weird that they were gonna bring Theater Class in the beginning of the second semester when they started like right now." Lucy stated.

"Heh, it's always been this way. Every time they want another class, it's three to four months late. I keep forgetting you're still new to this school." Natsu replied. Just then, a man with long green hair tied into a ponytail and a marron knee-length double-breasted coat with a wide collar and large lighter-coloured puffs and a large black belt.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Please welcome to the stage your Theater teacher: Mr. Freed Justine." He announced dramatically.

"Ugh, Mira's ex-boyfriend?" Lucy looked at him with disgust.

"I know see why Mira decided to leave the old man." Natsu snickered.

"I don't want to see you kids sitting in the audience like that. You have no energy. Get on the stage and sort yourselves from shortest to tallest, pronto. Move it!" Mr. Justine counted down from 10 until all the panicking students organized themselves into a messy line from shortest to tallest. Then, Mr. Justine gave them their, what he called, drama positions. "You kids will be in these positions on stage every drama class. Now let's start with some drama warmups. We have stretch-release, stretch-collapse, shake, number shake, pinch-explode and then vocal exercises. I will lead them first but then you kids will have to lead them later in other drama classes."

"Seems…interesting enough." Natsu started.

"Come on, it's gonna be fun." Lucy chuckled.

"Alright people, time for some drama warmups." Mr. Justine announced.

* * *

"That was just the crappiest class!" Natsu groaned.

"I thought it was nice." Lucy stated.

"You think everything's nice." Natsu replied. Lucy rolled her eyes and giggled, but then coughed right afterwards. Natsu patted her back. "Whoa, you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Lucy replied. "Now what to do about your grades…"

"Oh God, you're gonna make me study like hell, aren't you?" Natsu whined.

"Natsu, you have to. It's for your own good." Lucy replied. They walked to the cafeteria. Lucy looked around, Natsu was yelling at Gray. She grabbed Levy's wrist and pulled her to the side.

"What's wrong, Lu?" She asked.

"Help me, I don't know what to get Natsu for his birthday." Lucy hissed.

"You what?"

"I don't know what to get Natsu for his birthday! It's the first time I'm giving a birthday present to him and I want it to be super special." Lucy panicked.

"Calm down, whatever you get him he'll totally adore." Levy reassured her friend.

"Oh then I can give him a piece of crap I found on the sidewalk and he'll totally adore that." Lucy said sarcastically.

"At least put some thought into it." Levy rolled her eyes.

"I'm trying." Lucy slapped her forehead. Levy stroked her chin in deep thought. Then grinned widely at Lucy.

"I have the best idea!" She whispered it into Lucy's ear.

"Do you think he'll like it?" Lucy bit her lip.

"Well duh! It's the best present anyone could ever get!" Levy replied and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Well what am I gonna do? I'll be around Natsu most of the time since I have to tutor him. Where will I get the materials?" Lucy asked.

"Ok, we go to the drugstore today. If Natsu asks, we'll just tell him we're going shopping. You can ask his parents to tutor him in algebra." Levy replied.

"Alright then." Lucy sighed as they walked back to the table.

"Walk home with me?" Natsu asked at the end of the day.

"Sorry, Levy and I are going shopping today." Lucy replied.

"Oh ok. See you." Natsu waved with a grin and left.

"Oh my god, he's so gullible." Levy giggled. "Now let's go." They walked to the drugstore, chatting all about their childhood with each other and Loke after Lucy called Igneel and Grandeeney about helping Natsu..

"You remember that time when I got so pissed off at Loke in dodgeball then I threw it in his face? Then it bounced off of him and hit that weirdo Krov?" Levy laughed.

"I remember that face he made when you held another ball at Loke." Lucy chuckled. "It was all like 'FUUUCKKK, YOU'RE GONNA KEEEEELLLL USS!'" Lucy did her best imitation of Krov.

"Oh my god!" Levy snorted. "Remember when Loke hit on Chico and she whacked him with a chair?"

"Yup, expulsion for her and loss of money for Loke." Lucy grinned.

"Oh, remember that time when Wan stole your pencil case and you kicked him _right_ where it hurt the most?" Levy grinned.

"Oh yes, one Ludicrous Lucy coming up." Lucy cracked her knuckles. "Oh, looks like we're here." She looked up at the sign.

"Come on in, Lu. It's time to find the perfect present." Levy pushed open the door and Lucy followed. Lucy looked around the store while Levy looked through the sushi and onigiri stand.

"You know I could really use some help!" Lucy yelled over the shelves

"Sorry but these all look so good!" Levy yelled back excitedly.

"We'll buy all that later! Can we just focus on the album?!" Lucy asked.

"Fine." Levy pushed out her bottom lip and joined her. She immediately saw one she liked. "Ooh, how about this one?" She pulled out a thick red photo album with a giant sleeve for a big photo in front.

"I like it, but it's pretty thick." Lucy glanced at Levy.

"I know but it will be nice if you guys can continue it." Levy replied. "Besides, I know you have a giant envelope _filled_ with your pictures in it."

"I do not!" Lucy whined.

"Lu…" Levy looked at Lucy as if she were a detective.

"Fine, I do. That's because I have nowhere else to put them." Lucy hissed. "Besides, I'm not sure if all our memories can fill this thing."

"Uh, have you _checked_ that damn envelope? It is _stuffed_!" Levy stated.

"Ugh, jeez. Fine." Lucy paid for the photo album and walked out with Levy buying them three packs of onigiri. The two said goodbye at the crossroads before going their separate ways. Lucy opened the door to her house and Plue rushed to her. "Hey Plue, did you miss me? Did you, did you?" Lucy faked a squeaky voice.

"I sure did." Lucy lifted her head up to glance at the pink-haired boy standing at the top of the stairs.

"You always do." Lucy giggled.

"Now come on, Lucy. I don't wanna fail this time." Natsu ran down the stairs and dragged her up the stairs.

"Wait, slow down!" Lucy grabbed her wheelie bag and ran up the stairs with Natsu. That night, they studied side by side. Lucy helped Natsu with any question he had, but had her mind on the photo album the entire time. They studied hard until it was too hard to keep their eyes open. At 3:30 am in the morning, the studying ceased.

…

Natsu opened his eyes. The lights were still on and his head was on the table. He glanced at the clock, it was 5am in the morning. He turned his head to the blonde who was sleeping so soundly and innocently. Even in her sleep, she smiled sweetly as if she were in a happy dream even her hair was all over the place. Natsu gently, without waking Lucy up, carried her to his bed. He gently covered her with the blankets and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Sleep well, princess." Natsu whispered.

* * *

One Week Later…

* * *

"Alright class, time to put away your notes, it's time to begin the test." Mr. Conbolt announced. April 1st, today was the day of the finals. Lucy turned around and mouthed 'good luck' to Natsu before receiving her test and passing the rest of the tests to the seat behind her. Natsu received his test. First was Algebra, next was English, Chemistry and Social Studies.

 _Calm down, Natsu. Just remember everything Lucy taught you. Calm down._ Natsu thought to himself.

"You may begin the test…now." Mr. Conbolt announced. The class furiously began to write, remembering everything they'd studied. Natsu calmed himself down, took a deep breath, and began his test.

…

"I really hope I did well." Levy fiddled with her fingers nervously during lunch

"You do well on every test, shrimp." Gajeel ruffled her hair.

"I just hope I don't fail. I don't wanna repeat a grade." Natsu thumped his head on the table.

"You'll do fine." Lucy patted his head.

"I don't know about that." Gray muttered. Natsu instantly stopped thumping his head and grabbed Gray by the collar.

"Say that again, ice lips!" The pinkette screamed.

"I said, I don't know about that, lava brain!" Gray screamed back.

"You wanna fight me?!" Natsu cracked his fingers.

"Gladly!" The two aimed their fists at each others' faces. All of a sudden, a redhead intervened and bashed their heads together.

"Could I for once worry about the results without having you two knuckleheads head-butting?" Erza growled.

"But you always get good grades." Jellal stated.

"You never know, I might fail this year." Erza squirmed as she sat back down in her seat.

"Lucy seems rather relaxed about it." Juvia glanced over at the blonde.

"Huh? No, it's fine. I just hope I pass." Lucy replied.

"That's the spirit." Erza grinned widely. After lunch, Natsu followed Lucy out of the cafeteria.

"You wanna walk together to Theatre class with me?" Natsu asked.

"Sorry, I have to go to the nurse's office." Lucy replied sadly. "So I'll see you after school?"

"Sure thing. See ya later." Natsu grinned and walked to the theatre, wondering why Lucy had to go to the nurse.

"Good morning class." Mr. Conbolt stood at the front of the class holding brown paper packets. Test results. Everyone nervously waited for their results, especially Natsu, wondering if his studies paid off. Mr. Conbolt unraveled the string on the first packet.

"First we will start with English." He took out the first piece of paper. "The highest scorer is…Levy McGarden, 100%!" Everyone cheered for the petite blue haired girl, who shyly walked up front to collect her paper while the rest were passed back.

"Congratulations Levy!" Lucy said, with a 98%.

"Aw man." Gajeel moaned. He earned a 54%.

"Thank God." Natsu sighed. He scored 70%.

"Now we'll move onto Chemistry." Mr. Conbolt unraveled the next piece of paper. "The highest scorer is…Loke Stellar with a 95%!"

"Oh my God!" Loke exclaimed. Nobody believed it would happen, but they applauded anyway with shock and amazement.

"Aw man, didn't do as well." Lucy sighed, staring at the 89%.

"Yes!" Natsu waved his paper around, marked 79%.

"Now we shall move onto Social Studies." Mr. Conbolt unraveled the next brown packet. Once again, he pulled out the first paper. "Highest scorer is…Jellal Fernandes with 100%!"

"I knew it!" Erza grinned, score: 99%.

"Yes, thank God I got this one right." Lucy sighed with relief, receiving a 96%.

"Damn it!" Natsu thumped his head on the table, score: 55%.

"Now finally, we have Algebra." Mr. Conbolt slowly unraveled the last packet for extra dramatic effect, annoying the other students. The old teacher caught their glances and quickly took out the first paper. "Lucy Heartfilia! Congratulations on getting 100%!"

"Phew." She sighed relief as she went forward to collect her test paper. Papers were passed back. Natsu slowly revealed the paper to his face to see his grade.

…

"Mr. Dragneel, your Algebra teacher would like to see." Mr. Conbolt said to the disappointed pink-haired boy.

"Oh, ok." Natsu quietly left the classroom with a dark expression on his face. 65%. Didn't make the passing grade by 1%. Natsu crumpled the test paper in his hand as he silently opened the door to Mr. Wakaba's classroom. The old teacher turned his head to the boy.

"Mr. Dragneel." He stood up and looked at the boy. "Have a seat." Natsu sat in the seat

"You wanted to see me?" Natsu said quietly.

"Yes. You got 65% on your test. The passing grade is 66%. I'm afraid, Mr. Dragneel, that you might have to repeat this course…"

"Excuse me sir." Natsu and Mr. Wakaba turned to see who interrupted. "I take full responsibility as his Algebra tutor."

"Lucy…" Natsu gasped.

"Ms. Heartfilia…"

"When a student fails an exam, it's not the student's fault but the one who educated him. I take full responsibility." Lucy said firmly. The old Algebra teacher glanced back and forth between Natsu and Lucy. Then he sighed.

"Alright. Ms. Heartfilia, I'm afraid you'll have to resign as his tutor. But, since you raised him from zero to nothing, you still earn credit. Mr. Dragneel, I'll allow you to pass since you've made a big improvement but you'll have to be at the bottom of the barrel for next year. Both of you dismissed." Mr. Wakaba said calmly. Both of them walked out of the class hurriedly. Natsu grabbed Lucy's arm.

"Lucy, why did you stick up for me like that?" Lucy hesitated for a moment.

"It was technically my fault. I had other things to focus on, I'm so sorry." Lucy replied.

"What things?" Natsu was suddenly curious.

"…Nothing. Why?" Lucy was starting to get hostile. Natsu was surprised. Lucy was pretty shy when they first met but he'd never heard her talk like that before.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. It's just…" Natsu was about to say something, but shrunk away. "…never mind."

* * *

 **Btw in case ur wondering why Natsu's birthday wasn't celebrated, wait until the next chapter**


	25. Happy Birthday

**I genuinely apologize for my tardiness. I've been so busy and I've been writing other stories. Please forgive me but the good news is that summer break is here (it was like a month ago I am so sorry) and I think this may give me some more time to write and clear my head. Enjoy this chapter and don't forget to leave a lovely little review for me :P**

* * *

Natsu walked home without Lucy. She seemed off and quiet and decided to stay after school. Perhaps she wasn't too happy about sticking up for Natsu either. Neither of his other friends decided to walk home with him either. Natsu sighed and opened the door to his house.

"Mom! Dad! Look I got 100% for all subjects!" Wendy showed them the test papers.

"Congratulations, Wendy!" Grandeeney gave her daughter a hug.

"Oh, if it isn't Mr. Birthday Boy." Igneel teased. Natsu was caught by surprise. He wanted to go unnoticed but still, he gave a fake smile.

"Hi mom, hi dad, hi Wendy." Natsu smiled.

"How are you today? Sorry we couldn't celebrate your birthday on the real day." Igneel said.

"It's fine, I understand everyone was busy. Besides I'm used to it." Natsu replied.

"How did you do on the finals?" Grandeeney asked.

"Um…" Natsu started, but quickly ran up the stairs and slammed the door to his room.

"Bad move, mom." Wendy whispered. Natsu screamed into his pillow. He lay face first on his bed for a few minutes.

 _Why? Why?! I hate this stupid half-assed life!_ He thought to himself. _Nobody even seemed to remember!_

 _Flashback~_

 _"Hey Lucy, you wanna walk home with me?" Natsu asked._

 _"Sorry, I'm going with Levy." Lucy replied._

 _"Hey Gray, wanna go hang out?"_

 _"Nah, sorry I'm busy."_

 _"Hey Erza, you busy?"_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"Gajeel, wanna go hang out?"_

 _"Sorry, gotta take care of Panther Lily."_

Just as he was about to get up, he realized that he'd been screaming into a piece of paper on his pillow and it had gotten sucked into his mouth. Natsu spat out the piece of paper. It was a note. He unfolded the note and read the message.

 _Come to the place where we had our first date when the clock strikes 6 tonight._

 _From Lucy_

When the clock strikes 6? Natsu laughed at the cheesy message, but decided to watch Winx Club until 6.

* * *

"Mom, I'm going out. " Natsu threw on his sweatshirt and opened the door.

"Ok, honey. Have fun." Grandeeney called back, but secretly grinned with glee. Plue followed the pinkette out the door, he was surprised the dog wasn't with Lucy. He checked his phone. 5:55pm. It would take him exactly five minutes to get to Moondance Diner. Natsu walked to the diner with Plue following him silently. He opened the door to the diner. When he lifted his head, he jumped back in surprise.

"Levy?! You started working here again?!" Natsu screamed.

"SSH!" Levy shushed him and quickly handed him a sandwich and a note before disappearing in the back. Natsu unfolded the note.

 _Go to the Chocolate Lounge._ _BTW this is only for tonight -_ _I_ _gnore that last message from Levy._ Natsu chuckled.

"This is gonna be fun." He said and headed to the Chocolate lounge. Nobody was there except for Jellal's twin brother Siegrain.

"Did you get the note?" He asked.

"Yeah." Natsu held it up.

"Ok." Siegrain handed him a note and a dark chocolate spoon. Natsu read the note.

 _Do you still remember where I used to live? If so, go there now._ It said. Natsu looked at the chocolate spoon.

"Can I eat it?" He asked, but Siegrain was already gone. "Interesting…" Natsu whispered to himself and put the spoon in his mouth. He walked over to Lucy's old place. There was a sign on it that said "Belongs to Government" and just below it on the doorstep, sat Lucy with a blindfold.

"Lucy, what're you doing here?" Natsu asked. Lucy just quickly tied the blindfold around his eyes.

"Just trust that you're not gonna hit a pole or anything." Lucy giggled and led him away, guiding him across the streets until finally they came to a stop. Lucy gently undid the blindfold.

"SURPRISE!" A boom of yells immediately surprised Natsu.

"Whoa!" Natsu was taken aback. Before his amazed eyes sat a huge party with lights, tables of food, a bunch of high school kids with water guns wearing colourful summer clothes and a lawn water slide.

"Do you like it?" Lucy beamed.

"Like it? This has _crossed_ the line of like, the line is a DOT to me now." Natsu babbled, making Lucy giggle. "So…how? How…What…?"

"We were going to plan this party on your real birthday but none of us have finished with our presents and we weren't really ready on short notice so we had to postpone it to today. We pooled all our money together and created this! Even Sting, Rogue ad Yukino joined!" Lucy pointed to the three Sabertooth Academy students who waved at Natsu.

"Wow…" Natsu gasped. Suddenly, a giant splash of coldness engulfed Natsu along with chunks of ice.

"Gotcha." A wet Gray appeared behind him and grinned

"You wanna go?!" Natsu screamed, but was shot with a water gun by Lucy and Levy.

"Here." Lucy tossed an extra gun to Natsu, who immediately shot Lucy and Levy.

"You're all going down." Natsu chased after his friends. He squirted his gun at whoever he could find.

"Nobody will beat Juvia in a water fight!" Juvia screamed and brought out a second gun.

"Die!" Jellal screamed wildly. Lucy started coughing and that immediately got Natsu's attention.

"I'm sorry, did I squirt water in your cannula?" Natsu asked.

"Ha, it's fine." Lucy smiled and wiped her nose. She pulled out a gun and squirted Natsu in the face.

"Oh my…you are gonna pay for this!" Natsu picked her up and whirled her around.

"Stop it! You're getting us tangled up in the tubes!" Lucy squealed and quickly strapped her wheelie bag over her shoulders before Natsu could do anything else.

"Then you're gonna get so WET!" Natsu slid her down the lawn water slide.

"You idiot!" Lucy grabbed the hose used to wet the lawn water slide and splashed it at Natsu.

"You can't use that, cheater!" Natsu shot his water gun at Lucy, but tried not to aim for her face.

"Heads up!" Gray attempted to shoot Natsu in the face.

"Too slow." Natsu grinned from behind him. He snatched the hose Lucy was holding and shot Gray.

"WAAH! Fuck you, Natsu!" Gray growled. Lucy slinked off to the side where she took a rest. Running around with water guns sure took a lot out of her. Levy and Erza sat beside her.

"It's pretty isn't it?" Levy said to Lucy who was staring up at the fairy lights.

"Yeah." Lucy sighed. "I've never thrown a party this huge."

"Neither have I." Levy said. "Although there was that one time Erza threw a party so big that nobody when home that night."

"Levy!" Erza glared.

"Oh my god, seriously? What happened?" Lucy asked.

"Well, there was a lot of alcohol involved at that party. It was a Christmas party. We all go so drunk. Then we played a game of Master where we each draw sticks with numbers and whoever draws the master stick is the master and the master gets to decided which number does what. Then when Gray got the master stick, he made Erza walk out naked!" Levy and Lucy laughed.

"No! None of that happened!" Erza tried denying it.

"I still have photos." Levy took out her phone, but Erza batted it out of her hand.

"Shut up! Can we cut the cake now?" Erza nervously bit her nails.

"Ten more minutes. We still haven't fired the fireworks yet." Levy stated.

"Those lame makeshift confetti poppers?" Erza raised an eyebrow.

"They might be lame, but they don't shoot _confetti_!" Lucy shot back.

"I must admit, they're real fireworks but they were so cheap it's so suspicious." Erza said. "By the way I think it's a better idea for the fireworks to be AFTER the cake."

"Yeah, maybe you're right…" Lucy twirled her hair in thought, then sighed. "Bring out the candles."

"Yes, commander Heartfilia." Levy joked as they marched to the tent where they kept the cake and other supplies.

"You got the candles?" Lucy looked to Erza.

"Yes." Erza brought them out.

"You got the lighter?" Lucy looked to Levy.

"Yup." Levy put it beside the cake.

"Ok. We put th on the first layer. It should be big enough for candles. We put 17 on the very top. Got it?" Lucy commanded.

"Got it." The two girls carefully placed the candles on the cake to be perfect and carefully lit each candle, making sure wax doesn't drip. Lucy got out her phone and dialed her brother's number.

"Lucy, what seems to be the matter?" Sting asked.

"Get to the cake tent now. I have a task I need you to perform." Lucy said formally.

"Aw come on. I'm almost done with giving Rogue the wet-down he deserves!" Sting whined.

"We have to make this party perfect! Get your ass here right now!" Lucy hissed. "Oh and bring Rogue with you."

"Ok." Sting said reluctantly. Five minutes later, he burst open the tent door with Rogue standing calmly behind him. "What is it?"

"First, call everyone to the round table we've put near the big tree. We'll handle the cake and all. Then Rogue, after you finish your slice…" Lucy shoved a box at him. "…fire these but only in a place where Natsu won't see you. I'm asking you because you blend in well with shadows."

"Ok. I'll leave the box in here so I can get it later." Rogue replied.

"Sounds good. Now go!" Lucy shooed him out.

"Ok people! Put your weapons down and put your hands up! You have the right to remain silent and everything you say will be used against you!" Sting commanded. "It's time for cake." Everyone cheered with delight and sat themselves at the table. There was an excessively tall vase of flowers in the center and a silky white table cloth. Erza turned most of the fairy lights off and the attention was brought to the cake.

"WHOOAAAA!" Natsu gasped in shock. On wooden makeshift tea cart, sat a huge double-layered ice cream cake with candles that spelled out NATSU on the first layer and a 17 on the second right in front of a coloured chocolate figure of his upper body.

 _"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Natsu, happy birthday to you_!" Everybody sang and cheered as Natsu stood up next to the cake.

"Elfman, take a photo of us." Lucy handed Elfman her phone.

"Ok." Elfman readied the camera while Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Erza, Jellal, Levy and Gajeel gathered around the cake. "Say MANLINESS!" He snapped a few photos before handing Lucy's phone back.

"Thanks. Ok Natsu, make a wish a blow out all the candles." Lucy smiled. Natsu closed his eyes for a few seconds, then blew out all the candles. Erza turned on the rest of the fairy lights and Lucy cut the cake.

"The cake is so huge." Natsu remarked as he got his slice.

"Well, we are feeding the entire homeroom class, algebra class, chemistry class, football team and three extra people." Lucy stated as she gave out slices to everyone. She sat down next to Natsu. "Try it." Natsu jabbed his fork into the soft creamy texture. He held the fork to his mouth and took a bite.

"MMMM! This is so good!" Natsu gushed as the sweet cold creamy cake filled his mouth and tickled his taste buds. "Where did you get this?"

"I got this from an old pastry shop. The shop owner, Mako, has this really cute seven-year-old daughter named Miko who makes us free bread. Here." Lucy pulled out a small paper bag from her wheelie bag and handed it to Natsu.

"Wow, that wheelie bag can be used for more than just carrying an oxygen tank." Natsu joked. He opened the bag to reveal a cute heart-shaped bread. "This is actually kinda cute. Do you mind if I eat it savagely?"

"Not too savagely." Lucy giggled. Natsu took a bite.

"Whoa, this is really good. Are you sure a seven-year-old made this?" Natsu stuffed the whole thing into his mouth as Lucy politely ate her ice cream cake.

"Juvia thinks this cake was worth all the money." Juvia happily ate away on her cake. She picked up Gray's fork. "Gray-sama, eat."

"I was until you took my fork. I don't need to be fed." Gray blushed.

"Aw, looks like widdle Gway wikes it." Erza teased.

"Don't get anywhere near Gray-sama." Juvia glared at the others.

"Sorry." Erza held up her hands.

"By the way, what was the name of the pastry store you guys got this cake from?" Yukino asked.

"I think it was…Magnolia Bakery or something." Lucy replied.

"Wow, for a cake this good I'd expect it to be from a store with a fancy name or something." Sting stated.

"Don't just a store by its name." Levy pointed her fork at Sting. While Natsu gobbled up his cake, he sighed and looked towards the small pile of presents right next to the table.

"When do I open my presents?" Natsu whined.

"Natsu you sound like a child." Lucy giggled. "Soon, after everyone's gone. We have a whole evening of fun." Lucy looked over at Rogue, who nodded and swiftly ran off like a shadow.

"Ah, I've finished my piece of cake." Natsu stretched his limbs. "Can I have seconds?"

"Of course, there's plenty!" Lucy replied and cut him another slice.

"If only we could party like this every single day." Mira-Jane giggled.

"I wish we could but then we'd die of obesity from too much cake." Levy replied.

"I'm sure flame brain would." Gray glanced at Natsu.

"Say that to my face, I dare you!" Natsu yelled.

"You'd die of obesity from too much cake!" Gray yelled back.

"You guys, shut up and look!" Lucy pointed in one direction. Natsu and Gray's jaws dropped when they saw the sight. There were fireworks. Small and not so cool, but still fireworks. Beautiful colours bursting out of the dark night sky. Lucy wrapped her arms arms around Natsu's arm, cozying up to him. Natsu looked at her and smiled. She'd really outdone herself planning this party for him. After another hour of partying, everybody'd gone home, tired and full. Only Natsu's closest friends stayed to take down the tents and the fairy lights while Natsu opened his presents like a child under the big tree next to Lucy.

"A pack of 10 fidget spinners? This is kinda weird." Natsu chuckled.

"It seems kind of like a cheap gift." Lucy remarked as Natsu moved onto the next present.

"The new Sonic game? This is so cool!" Natsu grinned. "Who's it from?"

"Loke. As usual with so much money." Lucy rolled her eyes. Natsu picked up a small box.

"What's this?" He looked at it.

"I think that one's from your parents." Lucy replied as Natsu tore open the paper wrapping.

"Whoa! My parents got me an Apple watch!" Natsu made a fist. "Yes!"

"Oh look! Wendy got you the new Winx Club movie. Now on DVD." Lucy giggled.

"Wow, thanks Wen." Natsu pulled out a heavy present with pink Sakura wrapping paper neatly wrapped with no fault and no wrinkles.

"Yeah, that one is from me." Lucy stated.

"It's so nicely wrapped I kinda just wanna keep it that way." Natsu whined.

"Open it." Lucy gently pushed him. Natsu carefully undid the wrapping paper and looked at the present: a photo album with the words 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATSU' in big letters. Natsu opened the photo album to reveal so many different photos of their memories together. So many smiling faces and happy moments condensed into a single photo album.

"It's…it's honestly so beautiful." Natsu whispered. Lucy smiled and cuddled up to him.

"I'm glad you like it." She whispered back.


	26. Down

"Uhh…" Natsu groaned and lay on his stomach on his bed.

"Natsu, you've been like this since you got your algebra grade." Lucy patted his head.

"Yeah, but you had to stand up for me because of my stupid tiny brain." Natsu thumped his head on his mattress.

"Natsu, doing that will make it tinier." Lucy tried to reassure him. Natsu sighed into his bed.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy." Natsu moaned.

"It's ok, Natsu. I'm gonna be fine. Besides, you went from 0% to 65%. That's something to be proud of." Lucy stroked his salmon pink hair.

"The passing grade is 66%! I barely made it by one!" Natsu groaned.

Lucy sighed. "Tell you what, you can keep groaning while I go to the hospital for my checkup." This instantly caught Natsu's attention.

"But you've been having so many checkups lately. I'm starting to get really freaked out."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Lucy all of a sudden started coughing and wheezing. Natsu jumped off his bed and patted her back.

"Lucy?! Lucy?!" He chanted worriedly as he sat her down on his bed. Lucy took a deep breath.

"I'm fine." She coughed one more time. "Can you get me my asthma pump? It's in that small pocket." Natsu pulled out the small green curvy object and passed it to Lucy, who pulled the cap off, put one end into her mouth and pressed the Ventolin container at the top. The asthma pump made a small squirting sound and Lucy inhaled two times before putting the cap back on.

"You sure you ok?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just have to go to the hospital." Lucy tried to stand up but held her head and sat back down.

"I'll drive you to the hospital. If I fail at driving, we won't have to go." Natsu joked. Lucy glared at him. "Fine, fine." Natsu helped Lucy up and they carefully walked down the stairs to the car. Natsu helped Lucy into the front seat and hopped into the car. The minute Lucy put on her seatbelt, she closed her eyes and fell asleep as Natsu pulled down the driveway. Natsu smoothly drove down the road, smooth enough to keep Lucy asleep. Natsu looked at her, she was so peaceful but she has been sleeping around more often. Whenever the two of them were in the library, Lucy would always ask Natsu to find the books she wanted. She barely participated in Theater class anymore and she has been using her asthma pump and coughing more often. Natsu couldn't do anything, but the least he could do was be her nurse and lover.

They arrived at Magnolia Hospital. Natsu parked the car and nudged the sleeping Lucy.

"Lucy, wake up. We're here." Natsu poked her pale bony arm. Lucy stirred and looked around.

"We're here?" Lucy undid her seatbelt. "That was kinda fast." Natsu blinked.

"What? It took almost half an hour to get here." Natsu replied.

"Oh." Lucy sighed and opened the door. "I suppose I should be going in there."

"I'll come with you." Natsu jumped out of the car and walked Lucy to the hotel. The blonde slowly opened the door to the hospital. There was a dark aura which gave Natsu a bad feeling as patients were wheeled in and out. Lucy reached the reception desk.

"Hi ma'am." Lucy smiled kindly at the old woman at the reception.

"Lucy, welcome back. Are you here for a checkup?" The lady asked.

"Yes." Lucy replied.

"Alright, dear. Have a seat…" Lucy collapsed onto the cold tile floor. Natsu shook her as she coughed, wheezed and held onto her wheelie bag for life.

"Lucy? Lucy! Help! Somebody get help!" He shouted. The receptionist panicked as she quickly speed-dialed a number. The puny blonde girl's tight grip slowly loosened as she slowly lost her consciousness. A group of men with a stretcher took her immobile body and carried her away. Natsu desperately chased after them but were stopped by a couple of doctors.

"Lucy!" Even with his strength, he could not break free.

"Calm down, kid. Take a seat here." One doctor said.

"But Lucy…"

"She'll be fine." He interrupted.

"She just collapsed, you think she's gonna be fine?!" Natsu screeched.

"They're taking her to the emergency room. Trust the doctors, honey." Another doctor said as they forced him onto a seat, hot tears of anger, worry and sadness spilling from his eyes.

* * *

He waited patiently and desperately in the waiting room, pacing up and down biting his nails. 5 hours had passed, he'd already called his parents about the situation. They'd offered to come but Natsu begged them not to. As he paced up and down, a man with short black hair, round glasses and a white coat walked towards him. Natsu immediately stopped.

"Hi, I am Tono Rabbits, your friend's doctor. You may see her now." He said in a monotone manner.

"Is Lucy going to be ok?" Natsu asked. Dr. Rabbits sighed.

"You'll have to ask her about that. She's in room 500…" He didn't get to finish his sentence before the pinkette raced off to find room 500. Natsu bumped into a couple of nurses but he didn't care. He'd reached room 500 in no time. He reached for the doorknob, but hesitated. Natsu took a deep breath.

 _It's all gonna be ok. Calm down…easy…_ He grabbed the doorknob and swung the door open. There, he saw it: Lucy in a white hospital gown, hooked to an IV, sitting up in a hospital bed turning her head toward him. She was paler than before, she'd lost all her colour and was now a flower struggling in the snow.

"There you are, Natsu. You scared the heck out of me." She attempted a cheery tone, but Natsu remained still. "Must've scared you, huh. Seeing me collapse like that. It's ok, it's the first time though…"

"What's going to happen?" Natsu interrupted.

"Huh?" Lucy blinked.

"How much…time…do you have…" Natsu clenched his fists and tried to swallow the huge lump in his throat. Lucy sighed and gripped on her blanket tightly.

"The doctor said…unless a miracle happens…I only have about…1 or 2 years left max…" Lucy couldn't hold back her tears and neither could Natsu. "It's not fair, Natsu! 1 or 2 years! I didn't get to live my life to the fullest yet. There were so many things I didn't get to do! I didn't get to…" She tried to get up from the bed, but stumbled over the edge. Natsu grabbed her just in time before she fell onto the floor and helped her back up and sat on her bed. He held her shaking frail body as she held onto his shirt and sobbed against his chest. He held back his tears and swallowed the huge lump in his throat.

"Lucy…" He gently put his hand under her chin and looked deep into her chocolate brown eyes. "…what matters is that you have no regrets. Whatever you want done in your life, you tell me. I'll make sure it happens. If you're gonna…then you might as well…with no regrets." By now, tears were streaming down both their faces.

"Natsu…" Lucy held him tighter. Neither of them knew what to say at this point. All they could do was cry.

"I love you, Lucy." Natsu whispered.

"I love you too, Natsu." Lucy whispered back.

* * *

Natsu looked around the classroom. Lucy's seat was empty, just like his heart. His classmates tried to act natural like everything was alright, but nothing could mend the huge hole in his heart. Lucy had to live in the hospital from then on. Natsu had already brought all of her things over, including Plue, but kept her scarf from a long time ago when she'd first entered his home. Natsu couldn't eat his lunch, and his friends could see he was feeling depressed.

"Cheer up, man. Lucy's gonna be fine." Gray patted his back.

"How do you know? I don't see _Juvia_ in the hospital with only 1 or 2 years left to live." Natsu retorted.

"I know that you're upset and all but please don't make me imagine Juvia in the hospital." Gray growled.

"Gray-sama is so considerate." Juvia threw her arms around Gray.

"Natsu, you know what you should do?" Erza said.

"What?" Natsu glared at Erza.

"Visit her. Send her flowers and visit her in the hospital. Ask when they're gonna let her out and take her to all the places she wants to." Erza suggested.

"That…is a good idea." Natsu's face lit up, but sank back down. "I don't want to remind her she's dying."

"There's nothing we can do to make him feel any better." Gajeel sighed.

"Natsu, at least try." Erza said sternly. "She already knows so live this time to the fullest. Have no regrets, both of you."

"How?" Natsu retorted.

"Uh…um…" Erza stuttered.

"See, you don't even know." Natsu slumped down. "But buying her flowers and spending all my time with her does seem like a good idea."

"Phew." Erza sighed with relief.

After school, Natsu went to the flower store and bought a bouquet of pink lilies. He walked his way to the hospital and stopped in front of Dr. Rabbits leaving Lucy's room.

"Hi, I'm here to see Lucy. How is she doing?" Natsu asked.

"She's doing fine." Dr. Rabbits replied.

"What a relief." Natsu wiped his brow as the doctor left. He gently knocked on the door three times.

"Come in." Lucy replied. Natsu opened the door.

"I bought you pink lilies, your favourite." Natsu held up the bouquet.

"Aw, thanks." Lucy took a deep breath. "Too bad I can't smell it right."

"Ah, thought so." Natsu took a seat.

"How's school?" Lucy asked.

"Not the best, even though summer break is coming soon." Natsu replied.

"I see." Lucy looked down at her lap.

"What did you usually do during the summer?" Natsu asked.

"Usually I'd go to the hospital for checkups. I'd go to libraries to read books and stuff. My dad would sometimes make me live at my grandparents' place. That was when I was a kid. They're dead now, actually." Lucy sighed solemnly. Natsu sighed too, this was all too depressing.

"Oh by the way, I checked out the new TMNT 2012 episode." Natsu said.

"Was it End Times?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. It was kinda weird and some parts of it I didn't get." Natsu replied.

"Oh? What parts?" Lucy asked.

"Like, if Kavaxas was loyal to whoever held the seal, and Tiger Claw held the seal, why did Kavaxas try to take it from him?" Natsu scratched his chin, making Lucy giggle.

"You little dummy. He brought back the Shredder to life as a puppet because Tiger Claw was loyal to Shredder. So then if Shredder ordered Tiger Claw to give him the seal, then Tiger Claw would give him the seal. But really, Kavaxas wanted the seal so he could break it and have all those powers." Lucy explained.

"Also, if the seal was unfixable, how was Mikey able to fix it with gum?" Natsu asked.

"Don't ask me, it's Turtle Power." Lucy giggled. Natsu smiled. Even with no colour in her body, her soul shone like a sun. "Oh by the way, you're gonna be in your senior year. Aren't you worried about college applications?"

"A little." Natsu replied. "College costs a lot. I'm getting a summer job so I can make some money and I'll try getting in on a foot scholarship."

"Ah, I see." Lucy replied.

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?" Natsu asked.

"Isn't that a question for kids?" Lucy replied.

"Just tell me." Natsu said. Lucy sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"I wanted to be a doctor. I knew I had a sickness and I wanted to help other people who also had sicknesses. I didn't want them to know the pain of chemotherapy and radiation and stuff." Lucy replied. "Now it looks like I won't be helping anyone."

"You had chemotherapy as a kid, right?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah." Lucy replied. Natsu sighed. He could tell this was hard on her, having her dreams crushed and smothered to pieces right in front of her. He reached out and gently touched her hand.

"It's ok, Lucy Kayla." He smiled.

"You haven't called me that in a long time." Lucy smiled back.

"It really does bring back memories, huh." Natsu sighed.

"How are things doing at school?" Lucy asked.

"It's a bit different since you're gone. Like, more empty." Natsu replied sadly. Lucy looked down in sadness.

"I wish there was something I can do." She sighed. "I don't really like being the cause of my friends' unhappiness."

"Nobody does, Lucy. It's just that stupid piece of shit named fate." Natsu spat bitterly.

"Oh by the way, do you know which bag my novel is in?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah I think it's in the blue one." Natsu pointed to the small blue bag.

"Can you bring it to me?" Lucy asked. Natsu searched through the bag. He thought back to that winter night when Lucy started to write her novel. It was one of those happy moments together when it seemed as though nothing could go wrong. Natsu pulled out a huge stack of papers stapled together titled _Story of my Life._ Natsu handed the stack of papers and a pen to Lucy.

"This is it, right?" Natsu confirmed.

"Yeah." Lucy replied with a smile.

"What's it about?" Natsu asked.

"It's an autobiography actually." Lucy replied. "I started this when I was thirteen."

"Can I read it, please?" Natsu put on his puppy dog eyes.

"Natsu, I told you, you can read it when I'm finished with it." Lucy giggled. Natsu grinned and watched her as she wrote her novel. After a while, Lucy looked up at him. "Oh yeah, I'm getting kinda hungry. Can you go to 7-11 to get me some onigiri?" Lucy asked.

"Sure." Natsu stood up to leave. "What kind of filling do you want?"

"Um…shrimp maybe?" Lucy shrugged her shoulders.

"Are you sure?" Lucy nodded. "Ok." Natsu opened the door and left the room. They've come so far in their relationship now. Why did fate have to intervene and cut years out of Lucy's life? Natsu sighed and swung open the door.

"EEK!" Natsu shot his eyes open and found a familiar girl with long light blonde hair who dropped a plastic bag on the floor, contents falling out everywhere.

"Mavis? I'm so sorry, I didn't see you!" Natsu bent down and picked up the shopping bag and the things that fell out back inside.

"I feel reassured." Mavis laughed as Natsu held her bag for her. "I feel fat with this baby inside of me."

"You'll always be super tiny." Natsu joked.

"Aw, that's a little insulting but reassuring." Mavis giggled.

"So what are you doing here?" Natsu asked. "I thought you lived further away."

"Well, Zeref and I came to visit your parents. They didn't have anything in the fridge so I went out to get something. Zeref wanted to go and let me stay in the house but I told him it'll make me feel better if I went myself." Mavis replied.

"I see. So how's your baby doing?" Natsu asked.

"Well we found out we're having a boy." Mavis replied.

"Oh that's so great! Congratulations!" Natsu exclaimed. "Have you thought of a name?"

"Well that's what we came to ask your parents about. I wanted to name the baby after either my dad or yours but Zeref didn't think that'd be a good idea, for some reason." Mavis said.

"Maybe you should name him after me." Natsu joked.

"That's a possibility." Mavis put her hand on her chin for thought.

"Do you need me to carry your stuff for you?" Natsu offered.

"No thanks. Your house is a bit far but I think it'll be good for me if I get some exercise." Mavis replied. "Zeref hasn't been letting do anything for a while."

"Ha, I've never seen him this worried." Natsu chuckled and handed Mavis her shopping bag. "Well, I'll see you later. Get home safely."

"Bye, Natsu." Mavis waved to him and took off down the street. Natsu looked through the onigiri section and smiled to himself. It looked like the two were doing well. They had a baby, a living, a family…Natsu slapped himself on the head.

 _Wake up. Wake up, Natsu. Don't go_ _ **there**_. He thought to himself. Natsu grabbed four packs of the shrimp onigiri and tossed them at the counter. He paid and left the store. As he walked back to the hospital, all he could think of was his brother's new family. At occasional times, he would slap himself, trying not to go too ahead. But his heart wouldn't listen to his head. All he could think of was if Lucy had more time. Would they marry? Would they have kids? Natsu shook his head as he entered the hospital.

 _Now's not the time to think about that. Just be there for Lucy. Be there for your girlfriend._ He opened the door to Lucy's room and saw her talking to a familiar bluenette.

"Levy? When did you get here?" Natsu asked.

"Just a couple of minutes ago." Levy replied. "I can to visit Lu. Isn't it obvious?"

"Well of course. Why else would you be here?" Natsu rolled his eyes and handed the bag to Lucy. "Here."

"Thanks, Natsu!" Lucy replied with a smile and feasted on the food.

"By the way Natsu, what do you plan on doing on summer break?" Levy asked.

"Probably play a bit of football, visit Lucy, eat food, something like that." Natsu replied.

"Lu's birthday is during summer break." Levy stated.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Lucy jumped in. "It's on July 1st."

"Oh, so then I've gotta make it extra special." Natsu muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Lucy asked.

"NOOOTHING." Natsu grinned.


	27. Fighting It

"Now then students, I think you all know that THAT time has come around again." Mr. Conbolt sniffed and wiped his eyes. "I'll have you know you were all very good students. Well, most of you anyway." His eyes glared daggers at Natsu and Gray. "Well then I now wish all of you a very happy summer break!" Everybody threw their papers in the air and filed out of the classroom.

"Summer break! Finally!" Natsu shouted.

"Time for beach life and shaved ice!" Gray ran through the hallways

"Time to spend every single minute with Juvia's darling Gray-sama!" Juvia followed Gray.

"A date with my favourite girl, I definitely love that." Jellal wrapped his arms around Erza.

"I think it's about time we thought about summer jobs." Levy said.

"You're right." Cana sighed. "But it's gonna be so hard. At least for me anyway." Cana took a sip from her 'water bottle'.

"Don't worry about that, young children." Loke said. "My family owns a country club where I can find you all good summer work."

"You really helped us a lot right now. Thanks!" Natsu grinned and slapped his back.

"Ow, Natsu that fucking hurts!" Loke shouted. Natsu laughed and grabbed his schoolbag from his locker.

"Well, I'll see you guys later!" Natsu ran down the halls and out of the school. His first stop was home, where his mom had prepared a bento lunch for him.

"Are you going to the hospital to see Lucy after this?" Grandeeney asked.

"Uh huh." Natsu replied as he stuffed his mouth with more rice.

"Honestly, I almost never see you around anymore." Grandeeney sighed. "It's almost like you're forgetting all about Happy and Carla."

"Mom, Lucy's almost dying. I wanna spend as much time with her as I can." Natsu replied seriously.

"I understand." Grandeeney shook her head in dismay. In a few minutes, Natsu grabbed some money and a notebook from his bag and bolted out of the house and jumped into the car. He first stopped by the flower shop to buy some pink lilies for Lucy, then drove to the hospital.

"I'm here!" Natsu kicked open the door to Lucy's room.

"Oh my god, you scared me!" Lucy jumped slightly.

"Ha, sorry my bad." Natsu scratched the back of his head. "Here. I bought you flowers."

"Aw, thanks. You buy me flowers every time you come." Lucy blushed slightly.

"Anything for my girl." Natsu kissed her cheek and sat down on a chair. As Lucy put the bouquet of flowers to the side, she noticed there was something in Natsu's pocket.

"Natsu, why is there a notebook in your pocket?" Lucy asked.

"Oh yeah, you're birthday's coming up. I just wanted to make a list of things that you want." Natsu replied and pulled it out, along with a pen.

"Right. So anything at all?" Lucy asked.

"Anything. I might not get to all of them but I'll see what I can do." Natsu replied. Lucy thought for a moment. Anything…anything at all. That was a big thing. Anything at all. Lucy sighed.

"Ok. First, I want to go see my old house again. Then I want a Leo plush."

"Leo as in Leonardo from TMNT?" Natsu asked. Lucy nodded.

"Next I want to go to the aquarium, then I want to go to the Botanic Gardens, then I want to sing karaoke with everyone one last time…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, one last time? You never know, I mean, a miracle might happen." Natsu said.

"Natsu, the odds of a miracle happening are twenty percent. It's almost impossible." Lucy said sadly.

"You never know, Lucy." Natsu placed a hand on hers. "I believe that a miracle can happen. I believe you can fight this cancer." Lucy gasped, a tint of pink appearing on her cheeks. She then relaxed her face into a warm smile.

"Yeah." Lucy beamed. Natsu smiled. That warm smile on her face glowed as if she were an angel. Angels couldn't possibly die…could they?

"What else do you want?" Natsu asked.

"Well, I want a whole day date with you, find my brother Erik…and uh…" Lucy's face suddenly turned red as she hid her face in her blanket.

"What is it?" Natsu asked.

"It's nothing…well…it's something…" Lucy murmured through her blanket.

"Aw, Lucy, don't be like that. Anything you want, just tell me." Natsu reassured her.

" _Anything_ I want?" Lucy asked nervously.

" _Anything_ you want." Natsu replied. Lucy sighed, nervously fiddling with her blanket. Then she sighed.

"A little bit of a sexual relationship." Lucy blurted. Natsu blinked his eyes in surprise.

"Sexual relationship?" Natsu scratched his head.

"Yeah. I mean, we've been together for almost an entire year. It's about time we thought about it. Don't you think?" Lucy hid her face in her hands. "You know what, screw that." Lucy pulled the blanket over her head and cringed in embarrassment. A moment of silence fell in between the couple, and Lucy almost felt guilty.

"Lucy?" Natsu spoke up.

"Yeah?" Lucy replied.

"I'll see what I can do." Natsu said as he quickly wrote it down on his notebook. As Lucy peered from underneath the blankets, she noticed a small smile creep up his face. "Is there anything else?"

"I-I don't think so." Lucy replied.

"Ok. Are you sure?" Natsu glanced at her. Lucy thought for a moment. There was still something she truly wished for with all her heart. But then she thought again; first, they were too young, second, she didn't have enough time, and third, what would Natsu think? Sure he didn't say no to sexual relationship but wasn't he used to it? What would he say to this? Lucy took a deep breath, and made her decision.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Lucy replied. Just then, they heard two knocks on the door.

"Lucy! It's me! Your half brother!" One voice called.

"Sting?!" Natsu opened the door to reveal Sting and Yukino in their school uniforms with a bouquet of white lilies in Sting's arm. "It's been so long! I haven't seen you since my birthday party!"

"We were busy. Sorry." Yukino replied.

"It's fine. Anyway, come in." Natsu stepped out of the way for Sting and Yukino to enter the room.

"My goodness, Lucy, you look so pale!" Yukino gasped.

"It's fine." Lucy shrugged it off.

"Get well soon." Sting handed her the flowers.

"White? This feels kinda sad." Lucy giggled. "But thanks. So sweet of you."

"How are you holding up?" Sting sat on a chair next to Natsu.

"I'm fine. I'm a little weaker than before but I'll be fine." Lucy replied.

"Anyway, what were you guys talking about before?" Yukino asked.

"Oh I just asked her what she wanted for her birthday. It's on July 1st, did you know?" Natsu replied.

"No, I didn't. What do you want for your birthday?" Yukino asked.

"Well, you can just give me anything if you feel like getting me a present." Lucy replied, not wanting anyone else to read the list.

"Ok. I hope you get better soon." Sting looked at his watch. "Yukino, what time does cram school start?"

"Um, I think it starts at 3:55." Yukino replied.

"Shit, then we only have five minutes to get there!" Sting grabbed his bag and bolted out the door. "See ya!" He hollered.

"Lucy, if you want me to bring Plue over, you can just ask me." Yukino said. "Goodbye." She waved and left the room.

"Wait, is that why Plue isn't here anymore?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, since the hospital won't let Plue stay with me in the hospital, I had to give him to someone. Yukino was the only one who's parents allowed her a dog." Lucy replied.

"I see. You could've given him to me." Natsu said.

"Sorry." Lucy stuck out her tongue goofily. Natsu crossed his arms and pouted like a little kid, making Lucy giggle. She yawned slightly and rubbed her eyes. "I'm gonna sleep now. You can go if you want."

"No, it's fine. I'll stay until you fall asleep." Natsu replied.

"Thanks." Lucy yawned one last time. She lay down on the bed on her side and closed her eyes. Natsu edged closer to her and stroked her soft blonde hair. She was so much paler than when she was first arrived at the hospital she looked like a small ghost. In just a short amount of time, she was already asleep. Natsu leaned his head on her frail bony arm.

"Please, God. Please let that miracle happen." He whispered and slowly crept out of the room.

* * *

A week passed and Natsu was already arranging things for her birthday. Even though it was a month away, he felt he needed to be prepared. As he was about to leave for the hospital, he turned around to see Wendy with Happy and Carla by her side.

"Can we come with you?" She asked.

"You can. But what about the cats?" Natsu replied.

"Can't we bring them with us?" Wendy pleaded.

"Wendy, I wish we could. But the hospital doesn't allow pets. They wouldn't even let Plue stay with Lucy." Natsu stated.

"Aw." Wendy sighed disappointedly.

"But you can come with me." Natsu said.

"Ok." Wendy cheered up and followed Natsu out the door, only to find the car was missing.

"…do you have any idea where mom and dad went?" Natsu asked, gaping at the sight of an empty driveway.

"…no." Wendy replied, shocked just as much as Natsu.

"I guess we have to walk." Natsu sighed.

"Did you get flowers for Lucy?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, I always do." Natsu replied as they walked down the pavement. "By the way, how are things with you and Romeo?"

"Pretty good. He's nice to me and we were voted 'Cutest Couple' at the End-Of-Year Formal." Wendy beamed.

"Wow congratulations. Why didn't you tell me?" Natsu asked.

"I did. You were just too busy with Lucy." Wendy replied.

"Uh…sorry…" Natsu grimaced.

"It's fine. I understand your situation." Wendy smiled. After a few minutes of teasing and news-announcing, they reached the hospital. The two walked along the gloomy hallways to Lucy's room. Natsu knocked on her door.

"Lucy? Lucy?" Natsu knocked on her door, but there was no reply.

"Maybe she's sleeping?" Wendy suggested.

"Lucy? I'm coming in." Natsu opened the door and the two stepped in. "What?" Natsu gasped at the empty bed.

"W-w-where's Lucy?" Wendy stuttered.

"I-I have absolutely no idea. Let's go look for her." Natsu and Wendy bolted out of the room and dashed around the hospital, looking for a sight of a blonde girl with a cannula in her nose. Finally, they came to a stop, but still no sign of Lucy.

"Where…could…she be?" Wendy panted.

"Du…dunno." Natsu sighed and stood up. He looked around the hospital, then gasped. A woman with platinum blonde hair and a man with red hair stood in front of a glass window.

"Mom? Dad?" Wendy gasped in shock. The couple turned around to see the two siblings standing there in shock.

"Natsu, Wendy, you're here." Grandeeney said sadly.

"Mom? What's going on?" Natsu asked, completely worried.

"You might want to see this yourself, son." Igneel said. Natsu looked through the glass window. There was Lucy in her hospital clothes, in between two wooden bars and using her arms to support herself while she tried to walk.

"You know how she's been weak this past month. Well Dr. Rabbits told us that after hearing everything you were gonna give her for her birthday, she wanted the strength to be able to stand up by herself and not use a wheelchair." Grandeeney stated.

"You've got one hell of a fighter for a girlfriend, Natsu." Igneel smiled.

"Lucy…" Wendy swallowed the lump in her throat. Natsu stood there in complete shock as he watched Lucy take one step at a time. Sweat trickled down her forehead as her eyes gleamed with determination. Just then Lucy fell down to the floor and panted heavily.

"Lucy, you'd better stop this. You might over-exhaust yourself." The doctor said.

"No. I have to fight this. I have to make that miracle happen. I have to do this. I'll take my daily medication and get a good amount of sleep. They said I'll most likely survive this one year by doing so. But I don't want to stay weak my entire life! So I'll walk, and give myself the strength to fight this cancer!" Lucy gritted her teeth and stood up again. Her face screamed this was the most painful thing, her arms and legs were wearing out, she was sweating like she was running a marathon in the Sahara Desert, but she still continued. _Natsu, I'll fight. I'll fight for you. If I have to, I'll steal the time from fate to be with you._

"Lucy…" Natsu put a hand on the glass. A small tear slid down his face. "…you truly are a fighter." Lucy collapsed onto a bench at the end of the two wooden bars and gulped down a bottle of water and panted heavily.

"Lucy, you really should stop." The doctor said worriedly.

"Until my body is strong enough to fight this disease, I can't." Lucy said firmly. Natsu smiled.

"Natsu, we're gonna go home now. Are you coming? Grandeeney asked.

"No, I'm staying." Natsu replied.

"Ok. Dinner's at 6." And with that, Igneel, Grandeeney and Wendy left. Lucy wiped the sweat from her brow and looked towards the window where Natsu stood there, smiling. Lucy smiled back with relief, knowing that Natsu had her back and always will. Lucy sat herself on her wheelchair and wheeled herself out of the room to Natsu's side.

"How are you feeling?" Natsu asked.

"So tired." Lucy panted. "But I'm working hard at it and I'm not giving up." Lucy made a fist and grinned determinedly.

"Wow, they should put you on those inspiration commercials." Natsu joked.

"Maybe they should…" Lucy said smugly.

"Do you want me to wheel you back to your room?" Natsu offered.

"Nah, I can do it myself. It'll be a good chance to exercise my arms." Lucy replied.

* * *

For the next month, every time Natsu went to go visit Lucy in the hospital, she was always in the exercise room, getting stronger and walking. Natsu enjoyed watching her not because he had a strong feeling of a miracle in the presence but because she had the resolve to fight for more time on this earth. Each day, progress was being made. The colour slowly returned to her face and her bright smile had been restored to its prime. The depressing grey colour of her hospital clothes could not eclipse the light from her eyes. She was getting healthier, and Natsu was sure of it.

One day, Natsu arrived at the hospital, only to find the person he was looking for was sitting right outside on a bench. Her eyes were closed as if she was enjoying the cool summer breeze. Her wheelchair and oxygen tank stood on the side of the bench, almost completely ignored. Her blonde hair was down and it swayed in the wind like silky gold. Natsu slowly approached her, not wanting to wake her up from her trance, but her reverie was soon broken as the pinkette stood in front of her.

"Oh, hey Natsu. I didn't realize you were there." Lucy said cheerfully.

"Heh. Sorry I didn't bring you any lilies. I ran out of money so I just you this." He handed her a red rose.

"Aw, thank you." Lucy smiled and held the rose in her hand.

"So what are you doing out here?" Natsu asked and sat down next to her.

"Just thought I'd leave the room for a bit and enjoy some fresh air. I feel like it's been a thousand years since I've left the hospital and seen the outside world." Lucy replied. "I can mostly walk on my own now, but I do get tired easy."

"Telling me that you can mostly walk on your own, that's great news to me." Natsu sighed in relief.

"My cancer is still incurable." Lucy stated.

"But I think it's all changing now, don't you think?" Natsu glanced at her.

"Yeah." Lucy grinned widely. "So have you been doing anything recently?"

"Not really." Natsu replied. That was a lie.

"How's Wendy?" Lucy asked.

"Just fine." Natsu replied. "She's getting ready for when summer break is over. She can't wait to go to Fairy Tail Academy."

"It's pretty understandable though." Lucy giggled.

"No it's not." Natsu slumped down onto the bench. "She's too innocent she has no idea of what horror awaits."

"It's not that bad." Lucy chuckled.

"Says you, you have the best grades ever." Natsu pouted.

"Oh well, I couldn't convince you to enjoy Fairy Tail Academy even if I tried." Lucy tucked some of her hair behind her ear and yawned. "Now that I come to think of it, this summer breeze is making me kinda sleepy. Do you mind…" Before she could finish, her head fell on Natsu's shoulder and she fell fast asleep. Natsu glanced at her and smiled. He nudged his cheek against her soft blonde hair and looked up at the clear blue sky.

"The summer breeze…the blue sky…it really is nice." Natsu gently put Lucy on the wheelchair and wheeled her up to her room and tucked her in like she was a child. He gently kissed her forehead and took his leave.

* * *

Loke did exactly as he promised. He got all of his friends looking for summer jobs something to do at his father's country club. On a clear Saturday, Natsu and his friends arrived at the country club in relaxing summer clothes with their bags ready to work. It was so luxurious that surely only the rich people were able to hang out here. Natsu glanced up at the title: Celestial Country Club.

"This place is huge." Gray gasped.

"I cannot believe it." Erza gaped.

"Did Loke really get us jobs here?" Levy asked.

"He must've. Or I'm a freaking chef for no apparent reason." Gajeel growled.

"What job did you guys get? I'm a goddamn janitor." Jellal asked with a hint of sadness and rage in his voice.

"I'm a waiter." Natsu replied.

"Waiter along with this idiot." Gray pointed to Natsu.

"Say that to my face again, ice prick!" Natsu slammed his head against Gray's.

"I said you're an idiot, lava brain!" Gray shouted back.

"Quiet down!" Erza grabbed them both and slammed them to the ground. "Dessert chef." Erza replied proudly.

"I have a feeling Erza's gonna be eating the desserts instead of making them." Gray muttered to himself.

"Juvia is a lifeguard." Juvia stated.

"I'm a waitress." Levy said.

"Me too!" Cana cheered and held up a liquor bottle

"Hey, you guys made it!" Loke appeared in front of his friends in a bathing suit. "Your boss will meet you guys in the kitchen. I'd advise you guys to be careful around him. He creeps the hell out of me."

"Do you mean Mr. Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki?" Erza asked.

"Precisely. Just a piece of advise, he likes to say men and parfum a lot so watch out. And good luck to you guys?" Loke gave them a thumbs up and skipped off to the swimming pool.

"Juvia thinks we'd better hurry off to the kitchen." Juvia said and took off running with her friends following her. They arrived at the kitchen in no time. It was almost completely empty except for a few people and one short tiny but fat man with orange hair and a white suit with a blue rose. He spun around and pointed at the group of them.

"Ah, you must be the newbies, men." He said dramatically.

"Yeah. I'm Natsu and…" Uniforms were flung at each of them.

"Neatly folded and with a nice _parfum…_ MEEEN!" Ichiya flung his arms open. "Now, a-Mr. Natsu, a-Mr. Gray, a-Miss Levy and a-Miss Cana, my new waiters and waitresses, men. You shall assist with carrying the food to the tables and bringing in the dirty dishes, men. You will start by bringing the steak to table four, the pasta and the lemon tea to table nine, the lobster to table six and the three parfaits to table eight, men. Understand?"

"Yes." The four ran off to the changing rooms.

"Now then, a-Mr. Gajeel and a-Miss Erza."

"Yes?" The two of them stepped forward.

"You shall stay in the kitchen and take orders. Since you two don't have much experience in restaurant cooking, you shall be sous-chefs, men. A-Mr. Gajeel shall assist a-Mr. Yajima and a-Miss Erza shall assist a-Miss. Ikaruga, men. Yes?"

"Yes." The two said in unison.

"And might I say, a-Miss Erza, you have a lovely parfum, men." Ichiya put on a handsome but ugly face sniffed Erza.

"Ew, no!" Erza ran off to the changing room.

"Now then, we have a-Mr. Jellal and a-Miss. Juvia, men." Ichiya turned to the two. "I don't think a-Miss Juvia will need a uniform but you must wear that jacket when you're not in the pool, men. And a-Mr. Jellal, start by cleaning the vomit puddle by the register. Some kid did that and it needs cleaning, men."

"Uh, yes sir." Jellal said miserably and sulked off to the changing rooms. Natsu, Gray, Levy and Cana appeared in kitchen. Natsu and Gray wore grey button-down shirts and rolled up their sleeves with black vests, black trousers, black dress shoes and a white apron around the waist. Levy and Cana wore the same grey button-down shirts with black vests and white aprons at their waists except they had black shirts down to the knee, black stockings and black high heels.

"You all are wearing magnificent parfums, men." Ichiya took a deep breath. "Now them, as I mentioned before, you will start by bringing the steak to table four, the pasta and the lemon tea to table nine, the lobster to table six and the three parfaits to table eight, men. Parfum, men. Time is of the essence, men." Ichiya clapped his hands and the four of them race off.

"I'll handle the lobster." Natsu said.

"I got the pasta and lemon tea." Gray said and followed Natsu out of kitchen.

"Levy, I got the parfaits so you can just bring the steak." Cana put the three parfaits on the tray and left the kitchen with Levy following behind her with the steak. Natsu looked at the lobster, it looked so delicious. He couldn't help himself. The overwhelming scent of the lobster filled his nostrils. So he stole a small portion of the meat and place it on table six.

"One lobster, is that right?" Natsu asked the family sitting at the table.

"Yes." The man replied arrogantly and shooed him away.

"Waiter! Waiter!" A woman called to Natsu. He brought out his notepad and arrived at the table. "I would like the chicken salad and my boyfriend here would like the Quiche aux Epinards." She said as Natsu scribbled it down.

"Also, we would like the 75 Laffite wine and a plate of extra fries." The man replied. Natsu furiously scribbled the orders down.

"My, my, what intriguing pink hair you have." The woman propped her elbows on the table.

"Oh this? This is nothing." Natsu replied. "Now let's see, you've ordered the chicken salad, the Quiche aux Epinards, the 75 Laffite wine and a plate of extra fries, is that correct."

"Yes." The man replied.

"How old are you?" The woman asked.

"Me? I just turned 17." Natsu replied.

"Mm, really?" The woman licked her lips seductively.

"Uh, I'm gonna go now." Natsu raced off to the kitchen. He burst open the doors. "Chicken salad, Quiche aux Epinards, the 75 Laffite wine and a plate of extra fries for table five! Chicken salad, Quiche aux Epinards, the 75 Laffite wine and a plate of extra fries for table five!" Natsu shouted.

"Good timing, men. I was just about to leave but I tell you the wine is all in the cellar. Follow me." Natsu followed the old man into the wine cellar. The door was unlocked so waiters could go in to get wine for the customers as soon as possible. "I hope you memorized the way, men."

"I dunno. Oh well I'll just ask Gray or Erza to help." Natsu grinned.

"You said you were looking for the 75 Laffite, men." Ichiya looked through the wine cellar and brought it out.

"Thanks, old man." Natsu grinned and dashed off.

"I'm only in my thirties…" Ichiya cried. Natsu arrived back at the table.

"Your 75 Laffite." He said professionally, but couldn't get the cork open. "Almost…got it…urgh…" Natsu put the cork in between his teeth and yanked it out. "Got it!"

"This kid's a circus freak show." the man muttered to himself. Natsu elegantly and professionally poured each of them a glass before setting the wine bottle down.

"Oi, your name is Natsu, right?" The woman asked.

"Yeah. How did you know?" He asked.

"You're wearing a name tag." The woman pointed to his chest.

"Oh, that's right." Natsu laughed.

"Now then, you wouldn't mind if I told you what I wanted, right?" The woman looked at him seductively.

"Karen!" The man glared at his girlfriend.

"What's the matter? Why won't you let me? Don't make a woman say it by herself." She ran her hands down her legs seductively.

"Karen, I'm right here." The man said angrily.

"Oh yes. There you are." Karen rolled her eyes.

"Sorry to burst your bubble…um…Ellen was it?" Natsu scratched the back of his head.

"It's Karen!" She shouted.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Karen, but I've got a girlfriend waiting for me at the hospital and I just came her to make some money." He skipped off, leaving the woman dumbfounded. For the rest of the day, Natsu and his friends worked tirelessly at the country club, occasionally taking little breaks. Natsu ran almost all over the place delivering food and taking orders. By the end of the day, each one of them were exhausted.

"I'm literally about to die." Jellal cried. They all sat by the pool. Even though they weren't allowed to swim in it because they were employees, they needed a place to relax.

"Who knew baking was so hard?" Erza sighed.

"Juvia didn't do much because the people here are good at swimming. But it was so hot outside." Juvia rubbed her eyes.

"This woman with a boyfriend hit on me?" Natsu said.

"You serious? What did you say?" Gray sat up, suddenly interested.

"I told her that I had a girlfriend waiting for me at the hospital, then I ran off." Natsu replied. Just then, Natsu's phone rang. He picked it up, Lucy was facetiming him. He clicked answer and her beautiful cheery face appeared on the screen.

"Hey Natsu. I heard today was your first day at your summer job. How was it?" She asked.

"It was tiring. It's not that easy being a waiter." Natsu replied.

"Aw. Well you should get some sleep tonight. You've had a long day." Lucy said. "Do you have day-offs?"

"Mostly just the weekends. Ichiya or Loke's dad gets to decide." Natsu replied, then understanding what she meant. "I'll still have time to visit, I swear. So don't worry about it."

"Ok."

"So how are you doing? What are you doing now?" He asked.

"I just took a walk around the hospital. I'm getting stronger and healthier now. Dr. Rabbits said that my chances of dying are lower than before." Lucy replied.

"That's great news!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Well, I'm gonna go to bed. You should go to sleep early too." Lucy said.

"Ha, alright." Natsu smiled.

"Goodnight!" Lucy smiled before clicking 'End Call'.

"Goodnight." Natsu whispered to himself.

* * *

 **Well, I do hope I didn't take too much time to write this. Do you think Lucy will get better? Why or why not?**


	28. Author's Note - I'm sorry

**Hey. It's me again.**

 **You thought this was a chapter. I'm so sorry to disappoint you but no, this is just another boring author's note. I know you want to skip this but please bear with me.**

 **You probably want to strangle me and scream "WHERE THE HELL IS THE NEXT CHAPTER IT'S BEEN ALMOST A YEAR!" I know, I'm really disappointed in myself too, but I've been really busy for this past year and my writer's block is just killing me. But the good news is, I'm finally not busy...hopefully. I'll be able to work on the next chapter now.**

 **Just so you know, I have started it and don't worry I am halfway through the new chapter. Also I don't know if you'll be disappointed or not but the story is ending soon. Before I forget, I just wanted to thank everyone for bearing with me through my first (and most cringy, cheesy and fluffy-ish) fanfiction story. I enjoyed reading your reviews and hearing all your suggestions and encouragements.**

 **Don't forget to follow my other story The Shadow Knight and write reviews because I love reading them ;) I'll try to upload my chapter as soon as possible. So until then... *poof***


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